“When the light around you lessens
And your thoughts darken until
Your body feels fear turn
Cold as stone inside,
When you find yourself bereft
Of any belief in yourself
And all you unknowingly
Leaned on has fallen,
When one voice commands
Your whole heart,
And it is raven dark,
Steady yourself and see
That it is your own thinking
That darkens your world……..
~John O’Donohue
We are walking this week toward the observance of the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year. The sun has been setting at its earliest time in this part of the world and has been doing so at the same time for the last several days. The sunrise has also, for only the last couple of days, been happening later. Children leave for school in the dark and arrive home in the dark. Many adults do the same. It is indeed ‘raven dark’.
This blessing by John O’Donohue is simply titled ‘A Blessing for Courage’. It does take courage to walk in dark days, to continue to look for the Holy when the light lessens. But that is our work in Advent. So, like a superhero dawning a cape, we arise each morning ready to do the work that needs to be done. We continue to pay attention to the metered steps of making our way in a world still reeling from the recent school shootings. We see images of sweet faces being celebrated and laid to rest. We are bereft.
In the fall of this year I was blessed to travel with a group of pilgrims to Ireland where we visited the grave of O’Donohue. It was a powerful moment for me, one that had not been planned but was offered by our Irish guide. Set out in the barren, rocky coastal farmland of what is called The Burren, is a small, unassuming cemetery. There among stones that have stood hundreds of years we found the burial place of this poet who has influenced so many with his words of encouragement, his timeless blessings. Instead of a large monument, O’Donohue’s grave is marked by a large piece of wood that holds a stone shelf for balancing a candle. In the powerful wind of this place, this marker will not survive like the others around it but spoke so clearly of this man who offered his deep, deep wisdom, his pure humility and experience of the Holy.
“Search and you will find
A diamond thought of light.
Know that you are not alone
And that this darkness has purpose;
Gradually it will school your eyes
To find the one gift your life requires
Hidden within this night-corner.”
Advent offers this, if we allow it. This Advent in particular may do it more than others have. And so we continue stumbling in this night-corner, searching for that diamond thought of light that will guide us homeward.
