February 16, 2021

With respect
And reverence
That the unknown
Between us
Might flower
Into discovery
And lead us
Beyond
The familiar
Blind with the weed
Of weariness
And the old walls
Of habit

John O’Donohue,
On Meeting a Stranger

I’ve never met him and never assumed I would. He lives a coast away. Yet he is no stranger. We’ve been following each others blogs for a while now and how could I name him stranger when I read his profound poetic writing. A window to his beautiful soul.

So why was I surprised that his post today landed so hard, so heart hard? I suppose there is affirmation in this of how we can truly connect with each other in these times of pandemic paralyzation when our threads of connection are electronic in nature. Yet I was surprised by how his writing today touched me so deeply. “The results are not good,” he writes of a recent blood test, “another organ is in trouble.” And he asks us to pray for him and writes, “but love has different kinds, hasn’t it? We have ways to regard each other, respecting who we are. What’s going well, what’s not.”

And so, dear man who is not a stranger, I send you my regard. I send you my prayers, including a prayer that we will be reading each others words for a long while to come. Borrowing again from the words of John O’Donohue, may a slow wind work these words, and all words of love you receive, around you, an invisible cloak to mind your life.

Blessings, my friend. Blessings.

Beannacht,
Judith – judith@stonefires.com