Strange and Tender

Since last year about this time, when I became more wholeheartedly, unreservedly Quaker, my life and psyche have turned upside down, inside out. Everything seems strange and new. One tender teacher during this transformative period has been John O'Donohue, a Celtic Christian poet and scholar who died recently. Still his words reverberate within me particularly in the silence of Friends Meeting. It is from his book of blessings that I drew the title of this blog, Bless the Space Between Us.

Here is the O'Donohue blessing which most addresses my soul's longing: "On Meeting a Stranger," the stranger in this case being myself, loved ones and friends, and that ineffable One, G*d.

On Meeting a Stranger

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