I spoke yesterday at Ashley about hope, creativity and imagination. In the evening I came across this John O'Donohue blessing which I felt was another creative/imaginative way of expressing hope.
For peace
As the fever of day calms towards twilight
May all that is strained in us come to ease.
We pray for all who suffered violence today,
May an unexpected serenity surprise them.
For those who risk their lives each day for peace,
May their hearts glimpse providence at the heart of history.
That those who make riches from violence and war
Might hear in their dreams the cries of the lost.
That we might see through our fear of each other
A new vision to heal our fatal attraction to aggression.
That those who enjoy the privilege of peace
Might not forget their tormented brothers and sisters.
That the wolf might lie down with the lamb,
That our swords be beaten into ploughshares
And no hurt or harm be done
Anywhere along the holy mountain.
John O'Donohue
Taken from Benedictus, A Book of Blessings (Bantam Press)
1 comment:
Unfortunately I missed this talk as I was away at the weekend. I think though that hope is a very relevant virtue at the moment when everyday the papers are full of pessimism about the state of the economy etc.
Have been thinking about the need for hope but also about hope being different from optimism, a distinction Martin Luther King was careful to draw.
I'm often struck by how realistic Jesus was in what he said to people, he certainly wasn't into giving false hope or shallow optimism. If he was I guess he would have gone around thinking that perhaps the cross wouldn't happen after all.
What it means to be truly hopeful is something I'm still learning, but I do think its something beyond whether you see the proverbial glass as half empty or half full.
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