Liz is the eldest of my housemates and the only one of us who has done JVC before. Last year, as a member of JVC Northwest, she was placed in Wenatchee, Washington. Maybe that is why she reminds me so much of home. I admire Liz because she is always asking questions and seeking truth. A couple of months ago she lent me a book by John O'Donohue called Anam Cara. O'Donohue was a Celtic mystic, and though it is taking me forever to read it, Anam Cara is beautifully written. The poem that O'Donohue uses to dedicate the book is particularly poignant to me, and when I am having a rough day I re-read it for encouragement. Here is the poem:
BEANNACHT
For Josie
On the day when
the weight deadens
on your shoulders
and you stumble,
may the clay dance
to balance you.
And when your eyes
freeze behind
the gray window
and the ghost of loss
gets into you,
may a flock of colors,
indigo, red, green
and azure blue
come to awaken in you
a meadow of delight.
When the canvas frays
in the curach of thought
and a stain of ocean
blackens beneath you,
may there come across the waters
a path of yellow moonlight
to bring you safely home.
May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak
to mind your life.
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