For Light
Light cannot see inside
things.
That is what the dark is for:
Minding the interior,
Nurturing the draw of growth
Through places where death
In its own way turns into life.
That is what the dark is for:
Minding the interior,
Nurturing the draw of growth
Through places where death
In its own way turns into life.
In the glare of neon
times,
Let our eyes not be worn
By surfaces that shine
With hunger made attractive.
Let our eyes not be worn
By surfaces that shine
With hunger made attractive.
That our thoughts may be
true light,
Finding their way into words
Which have the weight of shadow
To hold the layers of truth.
Finding their way into words
Which have the weight of shadow
To hold the layers of truth.
That we never place our
trust
In minds claimed by empty light,
Where one-sided certainties
Are driven by false desire.
In minds claimed by empty light,
Where one-sided certainties
Are driven by false desire.
When we look into the
heart,
May our eyes have the kindness
And reverence of candlelight.
May our eyes have the kindness
And reverence of candlelight.
That the searching of our
minds
Be equal to the oblique
Crevices and corners where
The mystery continues to dwell,
Glimmering in fugitive light.
Be equal to the oblique
Crevices and corners where
The mystery continues to dwell,
Glimmering in fugitive light.
When we are confined
inside
The dark house of suffering
That moonlight might find a window.
The dark house of suffering
That moonlight might find a window.
When we become false and
lost
That the severe noon-light
Would cast our shadow clear.
That the severe noon-light
Would cast our shadow clear.
When we love, that
dawn-light
Would lighten our feet
Upon the waters.
Would lighten our feet
Upon the waters.
As we grow old, that
twilight
Would illuminate treasure
In the fields of memory.
Would illuminate treasure
In the fields of memory.
And when we come to search
for God,
Let us first be robed in night,
Put on the mind of morning
To feel the rush of light
Spread slowly inside
The color and stillness
Of a found word.
Let us first be robed in night,
Put on the mind of morning
To feel the rush of light
Spread slowly inside
The color and stillness
Of a found word.
~ John O'Donohue
~
(To Bless the Space Between
Us)
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