Monthly Archives: December 2015
Irish Christmas Blessing
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On The Death Of A Beloved
A friend recently observed that so many are leaving us in this time. And indeed there will always be leavings. These words of John O’Donohue are for those of us left behind.
Though we need to weep your loss,
You dwell in that safe place in our hearts,
Where no storm or night or pain can reach you.
Your love was like the dawn
Brightening over our lives
Awakening beneath the dark
A further adventure of colour.
The sound of your voice
Found for us
A new music
That brightened everything.
Whatever you enfolded in your gaze
Quickened in the joy of its being;
You placed smiles like flowers
On the altar of the heart.
Your mind always sparkled
With wonder at things.
Though your days here were brief,
Your spirit was alive, awake, complete.
We look towards each other no longer
From the old distance of our names;
Now you dwell inside the rhythm of breath,
As close to us as we are to ourselves.
Though we cannot see you with outward eyes,
We know our soul’s gaze is upon your face,
Smiling back at us from within everything
To which we bring our best refinement.
Let us not look for you only in memory,
Where we would grow lonely without you.
You would want us to find you in presence,
Beside us when beauty brightens,
When kindness glows
And music echoes eternal tones.
When orchids brighten the earth,
Darkest winter has turned to spring;
May this dark grief flower with hope
In every heart that loves you.
May you continue to inspire us:
To enter each day with a generous heart.
To serve the call of courage and love
Until we see your beautiful face again
In that land where there is no more separation,
Where all tears will be wiped from our mind,
And where we will never lose you again.
Beannacht,
Judith – judith@stonefires.com
Other Worlds
It’s been a while. I had several posts ready to publish. And then we got the call. My Dad was dying and any writings about driving in Ireland just seemed so frivolous. Rushing to be with Dad in his transition I stepped away from writing and into an other world journey.
At 91, Dad had lived a good life. He made incredible contributions to so many and in so many ways. He was ready to go. He was ready to be with Mom. And it was a good death. 
He was home, surrounded by family, with an incredible harpist in the room with us. We sang and prayed and called to those on the other side to come collect him. He was already seeing through the veil.
One of the world’s leading barley geneticists, Dad was proud of his Barley Bob nickname. It was when the harpist played Sting’s song Fields of Gold that Dad took his final breath. You’ll remember me when the west wind moves upon the fields of barley. It was as if those on the other side, those in the Otherworld, were saying, “We’ve got him. All is well.” Mom was waiting for him. His angel guided him over the threshold.
Over these past weeks I’ve been waiting. Waiting for the intense grief. But It has not yet come. Perhaps it will. Perhaps this is the gift of dementia. For we have been losing and grieving that loss of Dad for the past few years. When he was ready to go we were ready to let him go.
But perhaps, and more likely, it is the comfort of knowing the truth of other worlds and realms – the Otherworld of our Irish ancestors. Knowing that we are all truly just Spirits having a human experience and that when we die our Spirits do not. There is such great comfort in knowing that Dad is now with his beloved soul mate. As one of Dad’s long-time colleagues said when she heard of his passing, “There are rainbows in heaven because your Mom and Dad are together again.”
I love you Dad. I always will.
Beannacht,
Judith – judith@stonefires.com
Solstice Blessings
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