A New Beginning

A friend sent me this and I love it - we are all in new beginnings at this time, if at all connected to the academic year - some are seeing their children begin a new school year, others are beginning to teach new things to new children, others are beginning new jobs, etc. We will begin to deepen the call of our General Chapter.

For a New Beginning
By John O'Donohue
(1956 - 2008)
 
In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life's desire.