The Unknown

There is another level of absence as well,
and it is that which has not vanished,
but that which has not yet arrived.
We all live in a pathway in the middle of time,
so there are lots of events, people, places,
thoughts, experiences still ahead of us
that have not actually arrived
at the door of our hearts at all.
This is the world of the unknown.
Questions and thinking are ways of reaching
into the unknown to find out what
kind of treasures it actually holds.
The question is the place where
the unknown becomes articulate in us.
A good question is something that has
incredible grace and light and depth to it.
A good question is something that always,
in some way, plows the
invisible furrows of absence to find
the nourishment and treasure
that we actually need.

--John O'Donohue

Trees Are Poems

Trees are poems the earth writes upon the sky.

- -Khalil Gibran 

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

    That mark our place; and in the sky

    The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

    Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

        In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

    The torch; be yours to hold it high.

    If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

        In Flanders fields.

--John McCrae

For Solitude

May you recognize in your life the presence,
power, and light of your soul.

May you realize that you are never alone,
that your soul in its brightness and belonging
connects you intimately with the rhythm of
the universe.

May you have respect for your individuality
and difference.

May you realize that the shape of your soul is unique,
that you have a special destiny here,
that behind the façade of your life,
there is something beautiful and eternal happening.

--John O'Donohue

[Photo taken of Lough Corrib, Connemara, Ireland]