Two dark-haired beauties grace my front yard most Monday evenings.
They are small and they come for the dinner served under the stars in the Covid fall.
They come to eat, but mostly they come to play and revel in the magic of twinkle lights strung up in the trees and a hammock strung below.
They carry wonder and adventure in the bedrock of their young souls.
Innocence - beauty and delight in ones who have never suffered.
I wish they would never have to suffer -
these little ones,
my own grandchildren who may come,
all children.
John O’Donohue reminds us to be like them,
To ”Keep something beautiful in your heart to survive difficult times and enjoy good times.”
My small Monday dinner friends make me so full of gratitude.
Of the importance of leaving a legacy of gratitude.
That’s what I want to keep in my heart -
The beauty of gratitude that I can pass on to them and to all I meet in my life.
By keeping my heart so tuned, I can perhaps pass on strength for when difficulties come.
I am asking to be able to leave a blessing. That’s what a legacy is.
It cannot be called a blessing if it is not given further.
Blessings kept to oneself do not become legacy.
Mr. O’Donohue also wrote;
In the parched deserts of postmodernity a blessing can be like the discovery of a fresh well. It would be lovely if we could rediscover our power to bless one another.
I believe each of us can bless.
When a blessing is invoked, it changes the atmosphere.
Some of the plenitude flows into our hearts from the invisible neighborhood of loving kindness.
In the light and reverence of blessing, a person or situation becomes illuminated in a completely new way.
In a dead wall a new window opens,
in dense darkness a path starts to glimmer,
and into a broken heart healing falls like morning dew.
It is ironic that so often we continue to live like paupers though our inheritance of spirit is so vast.
The quiet eternal that dwells in our souls is silent and subtle;
in the activity of blessing it emerges to embrace and nurture us.
Let us begin to learn how to bless one another.
Whenever you give a blessing, a blessing returns to enfold you.
We have passed on enough grief and mayhem that our children will carry and correct.
That is nothing new.
Those of us who are not innocent,
let’s finally pass on something good and lovely and pure.
Let’s end this 2020 year with a holiday season full of gratitude unfettered by worry.
Let’s unleash the possibility of windows opening in walls,
of a glimmer of hope in the darkness,
of broken hearts actually healing.