Thread by @AlisonBlunt

"There is a quiet light that shines in every heart. It draws no attention to itself though it’s always secretly there. In the end it’s what illuminates our minds to see beauty,our desire to seek possibility & our hearts to love life."
To Bless the Space Between Us, John O'Donohue

"Without this subtle quickening our days would be empty and wearisome and no horizon would ever awaken our longing. Our passion for life is quietly sustained from somewhere in us that is wedded to the energy and the excitement of life." John O'Donohue
goodreads.com/book/show/1211…

"This shy, inner light is what enables us to recognise and receive our very presence here as blessing. We enter the world as strangers who all at once becomes heirs to a harvest of memory, spirit and dream that has long preceded us and will now enfold, nourish and sustain us."

"Therefore, the gift of the world is our first blessing. T’would be infinitely lonely to live in a world without blessing. The word blessing evokes a sense of warmth and protection. It suggests that no life is alone or unreachable."

"Each life is clothed in raiment of spirit that secretly links it to everything else. Though suffering and chaos befall us, they can never quench this inner light of providence. While our culture is all gloss and pace on the outside, within tis too often haunted and lost."

"The commercial edge of so-called progress has cut away a huge region of human tissue and webbing that held us in communion with each other. We have fallen out of belonging."

Quoting from To Bless the Space Between Us (2008), John O'Donohue

"Consequently, when we stand before crucial thresholds in our lives we have no rituals to protect, encourage and guide us as we cross over into into the unknown. For such crossings we need to find new words. And what is nearest to the heart is often farthest from the word."

"These blessings are an attempt to reach into that tenuous territory of change that we must traverse when a threshold invites us. And each blessings is intended to present a minimal psychic portrait of the geography of change that it names."

goodreads.com/work/quotes/11…

"Without warning, thresholds can open directly before our feet. These thresholds are also the shorelines of new worlds. The blessings here attempt to offer a geography of the new experience and some pathways of presence through it."

To Bless the Space Between Us, John O'Donohue

"It has been a daunting undertaking over several years to create these blessings. A blessing evokes a privileged intimacy. It touches that tender membrane where the human heart cries out to it’s divine ground."

Quoting from To Bless the Space Between Us (2008), John O'Donohue

"In the ecstasy & loneliness of one’s life there are certain times when a blessing is nearer to us than any other person or thing.A blessing is not a sentiment or a question. It is a gracious invocation where the human heart pleads with the divine heart."
goodreads.com/work/quotes/11…

"And there’s nothing more intimate in a life than that secret under-territory where it anchors. Regardless of our differences in our religion, language or concept, there is no heart which is without this inner divine reference."
To Bless the Space Between Us (08), John O'Donohue

"And it’s the modest wish of these blessings to illuminate the gift that a blessing can be. The doors that it can open, the healing and transformation it can bring, and our times are desperate for this, they’re desperate for meaning and belonging."

To Bless the Space Between Us

"And I think that in the parched deserts of post-modernity a blessing can be like a discovery of a fresh well. It would be lovely if we could rediscover our power to bless each other. I believe that each of us can bless. When a blessing is invoked, it changes the atmosphere."

"Some of the plenitude flows into our hearts from the invisible neighbourhood of loving kindness. In the light and reverence of blessing a person or a situation becomes illuminated in a completely new way."

To Bless the Space Between Us (08), John O'Donohue

"In a dead wall a new window opens, in dense darkness a path starts to glimmer, and into a broken heart, healing begins to fall like morning dew. It’s so ironic i always think, that we often continue to live like paupers though our inheritance of spirit is so vast."

"The quiet eternal that dwells in our souls is silent and subtle, but in the activity of blessing, it emerges to embrace and nurture us. Let us begin to learn how to bless each other. Whenever you give a blessing, a blessing returns to enfold you."

To Bless the Space Between Us

"And a blessing is a difficult form to render, I have endeavoured to write them as poetically as possible but they’re not poems. A poem is an utterly independent linguistic object, it begins with the first syllable & ends with the last, and in between it is it’s own forcefield."

"In contrast, the blessing form has an eye to the outside, in order to embrace & elevate whats happened to someone. It is direct address, driven by immediacy and care. A poem is inevitably more oblique, it works deep underneath conversation."

To Bless the Space Between Us ('08)

"The temptation in blessings is to imply the word ‘God’ at every juncture, and I’ve chosen not to do this. Firstly, because it would be so repetitive, secondly because the word ‘God’ is too huge to allow any other word to breathe beside it. And further more, t’is unnecessary," ..

.."because God is omnipresent and life itself is the primal sacrament: namely the visible sign of invisible grace. The structures of our experience are the windows into the divine, and when we’re true to the call of experience, then we’re true to God as well."

"The language of blessing is invocation, it’s a calling forth. This is why the word ‘may’ occurs throughout the blessings, it’s a word of benediction. It imagines and wills the fulfilment of desire. In the evocation of our blessings here, the word ‘may’ is the spring.." ..

.."through which the holy spirit is invoked to surge into presence and effect. The holy spirit is the subtle presence and secret energy behind every blessing.

To Bless the Space Between Us (2008), John O'Donohue

"And so the sequence of blessing follows seven rhythms of the human journey. First is beginnings, then desires, then thresholds, then homecomings, then states of the heart, then callings and finally, beyond endings."

To Bless the Space Between Us (2008), John O'Donohue

"So these blessings can be used in different ways. Firstly, the blessings can be used privately, by yourself. In other words, if you find yourself on particular thresholds, the hope is, that in these sequence of blessings you’ll find one which directly addresses where you are,"..

.."and you can use it that way for yourself, as a blessing for your own particular crossing or situation at the moment."

To Bless the Space Between Us (2008), John O'Donohue

"Secondly, the blessings can be used as meditations, because I’ve really tried to be careful with the language, each blessing suggests a whole subtle world, so the more you dwell with them, the more they will come to approach you and hopefully you’ll be able to enter.." ..

.."the depth that I hope is in them. So secondly, each blessing can be used as a prayer, as an actual blessing for someone..and my experience so far as I’ve been reading the blessings in places that I’ve spoken, is people have come up to me.."

.."wanting the blessings and saying, ‘I know someone now who’s going through exactly that and that blessing’d suit them.’ These blessings can used as an actual prayer for somebody that’s going through a difficulty."

To Bless the Space Between Us (2008), John O'Donohue

"And they can also be used, actually like, that you could send the blessing to somebody. So hopefully, in this sequence which is a modest sequence and is limited, that you will find some blessings here that will really reach your heart, that will invite you.." ..

.."to awaken your own power to bless, and that will suggest to you a secret world of healing and plenitude and providence that encircles, shelters and guides your every breath and step. So I hope you enjoy."

Intro to 'To Bless the Space Between Us' (2008), John O'Donohue

I found this booksvooks.com/to-bless-the-s… but i really love listening to John O'Donohue reading the whole audiobook, I've got so much from the resonance of his voice 💞