The inner history of a day

Yesterday as the outer world tumbled in turmoil, I worked on The Art of Quiet Disruption.

Therefore, searching for a different voice to carry into today seemed appropriate. A voice that speaks across time with dignity and beauty that we need to settle our souls just now.

So I picked up John O'Donohue's blessing from the chapter Beyond Endings, which I had sat with earlier in the week. It seemed fitting:

THE INNER HISTORY OF A DAY

No one knew the name of this day;

Born quietly from deepest night,

It hid its face in light,

Demanded nothing for itself,

Opened out to offer each of us

A field of brightness that travelled ahead,

Providing in time, ground to hold our footsteps

And the light of thought to show the way.

The mind of the day draws no attention;

It dwells within the silence with elegance

To create a space for all our words,

Drawing us to listen inwards and outwards.

We seldom notice how each day is a holy place

Where the eucharist of the ordinary happens,

Transforming our broken fragments

Into an eternal continuity that keeps us.

Somewhere in us a dignity presides

That is more gracious than the smallness

That fuels us with fear and force,

A dignity that trusts the form a day takes.

So at the end of this day, we give thanks

For being betrothed to the unknown

And for the secret work

Through which the mind of the day

And wisdom of the soul become one.

+ John O'Donohue, from Benedictus: A Book of Blessings, Bantam Press 2007