Having received a review copy of CDs of Irish poet John O’Donohue’s To Bless the Space Between Us: A Collection of Invocations and Blessings, I went online to track down a bit about him, and fell across the most moving obituaries you could ever read. Unsuspecting, I found that this CD set I have on my desk was the last that Sounds True produced with him before his sudden death in January at the age of 52.

Maybe I wouldn’t have paid so much attention if I hadn’t read such tributes, but now for sure I need to know more about this man who stirred so many hearts. Here is one of his exquisite blessings, found on the CD set (with music by Aine Minogue), and, ironically, it speaks beautifully about being alive:

For the Senses
May the touch of your skin
Register the beauty
Of the otherness
That surrounds you.

May your listening be attuned
To the deeper silence
Where sound is honed
To bring distance home.

May the fragrance
Of the breathing meadow
Refresh your heart
And remind you you are
A child of the Earth.

May your inner eye
See through surfaces
And glean the real presence
Of everything that meets you.

May your soul beautify
The desire of your eyes
That you might glimpse
The infinity that hides
In the simple sights
That seem worn
To your usual eyes.