A Blessing

by John O’Donohue

May you know that absence is full of tender presence and
that nothing is ever lost or forgotten.

May the absences in your life be full of eternal echo.

May you sense around you the secret Elsewhere which holds
the presences that have left your life.

May your compassion reach out to the ones we never hear
from and may you have the courage to speak out for the excluded ones.

May you become the gracious and passionate subject of
your own life.

May you not disrespect your mystery through brittle
words or false belonging.

May you be embraced by God in whom dawn and twilight are
one, and may your belonging inhabit the deepest dreams within the shelter of
the Great Belonging.

Contributed by Liz Sorensen Wessel

Mandala by ~liz