On this echo-ing day of your birth, may you open the gift of solitude in order to receive your soul... John O'Donohue
It was a good idea in theory to
end work the day before my birthday. A good idea when you’re not moving and
have “odds and ends” left to pack up, which, after five hours of trips in and
out of the house, fill every inch of my car. I’ve moved, oh, 18 times since
starting college…you’d think I would have learned by now that I will always
need more boxes and more time than planned for! I did manage to enjoy a late
lunch at my favorite Baltimore spot, Atwater’s in Belvedere Sq. This was their
turkey, apple, brie on cranberry bread with some delicious spread. Amazing.
Don’t be surprised when you see me behind the counter asking for your order in
a few months. I love it that much.
Thanks to the Haley’s and Lauren for rendezvousing at Panera
in Leesburg, VA for a celebratory dinner! There’s no better birthday gift than
to see my nephew’s face at the mention of cake, courtesy of Tara Mastoris and
the Mastoris Bakery/ in New Jersey. (Exit 6 off the Turnpike. Visit. And get the
cinnamon bread.)
Many thanks to Tim Brown, S.J. for his lavish gift of books for my journey. One is particularly wonderful: John O'Donohue's "To Bless the Space Between Us." Keep track of his birthday blessing for your own special day!
Blessed be the mind that dreamed the day
the blueprint of your life
would begin to glow on earth,
illuminating all the faces and voices
that would arrive to invite
your soul to growth.
Praised be your father and mother,
who loved you before you were,
and trusted to call you here
with no idea who you would be.
Blessed be those who have loved you
into becoming who you were meant to be,
blessed be those who have crossed your life
with dark gifts of hurt and loss
that have helped to school your mind
in the art of disappointment.
When desolation surrounded you,
blessed be those who looked for you
and found you, their kind hands
urgent to open a blue window
in the gray wall formed around you.
Blessed be the gifts you never notice,
your health, eyes to behold the world,
thoughts to countenance the unknown,
memory to harvest vanished days,
your heart to feel the world's waves,
your breath to breathe the nourishment
of distance made intimate by earth.
On this echoing-day of your birth,
may you open the gift of solitude
in order to receive your soul;
enter the generosity of silence
to hear your hidden heart;
know the serenity of stillness
to be enfolded anew
by the miracle of your being.
Many thanks to Tim Brown, S.J. for his lavish gift of books for my journey. One is particularly wonderful: John O'Donohue's "To Bless the Space Between Us." Keep track of his birthday blessing for your own special day!
Blessed be the mind that dreamed the day
the blueprint of your life
would begin to glow on earth,
illuminating all the faces and voices
that would arrive to invite
your soul to growth.
Praised be your father and mother,
who loved you before you were,
and trusted to call you here
with no idea who you would be.
Blessed be those who have loved you
into becoming who you were meant to be,
blessed be those who have crossed your life
with dark gifts of hurt and loss
that have helped to school your mind
in the art of disappointment.
When desolation surrounded you,
blessed be those who looked for you
and found you, their kind hands
urgent to open a blue window
in the gray wall formed around you.
Blessed be the gifts you never notice,
your health, eyes to behold the world,
thoughts to countenance the unknown,
memory to harvest vanished days,
your heart to feel the world's waves,
your breath to breathe the nourishment
of distance made intimate by earth.
On this echoing-day of your birth,
may you open the gift of solitude
in order to receive your soul;
enter the generosity of silence
to hear your hidden heart;
know the serenity of stillness
to be enfolded anew
by the miracle of your being.
This is beautiful! Happy belated birthday, Jess!
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