A Blessing For Absence

A Blessing For Absence - 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 you be generous in your embrace of
loss.
May the sore of your grief turn into a well
of seamless presence.
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 longing inhabit it’s deepest dreams
within the shelter of the Great
Belonging