At the end of a long week...

At the end of a long week I find these words from John O'Donohue's book, To Bless the Space Between Us, so right:

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 traveled 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 inward and outward.

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.

This week brought the birth of a new son to Elizabeth and Piotr, the burial of old Thomas, the ups and downs of surgery and healing for Paul and his family, the purchase of a new/old car for James and Dianne, playing sweet music with bandmates, discovering the beauty of Grahm's unique musical gifts, lamenting my sweetheart's head cold, purchasing tickets for Istanbul, planning for Advent worship and weekly meditative concerts, celebrating a successful stewardship drive at church, writing my weekly sermon, practicing guitar scales, cooking dinner and watching British murder mysteries and just a wee bit of prayer, too. My conscious prayers this week recall with tenderness my friends who face the anniversary of death and loss as the holidays emerge - as well as prayers of joy for the healing at work in lives of other dear ones - healings in body, mind, soul and spirit.

Like O'Donahue says: it has been a full and ordinary trek towards the dignity of the ordinary and finds grace for our small fears on the road towards the unity of of mind and soul. (Here's one of the tunes we're starting to work on for Advent...)