AT THE END OF THE YEAR

As this year draws to its end,

We give thanks for the gifts it brought

And how they became inlaid within

Where neither time nor tide can touch them.

Days when beloved faces shone brighter

With light from beyond themselves;

And from the granite of some secret sorrow

A stream of buried tears loosened.

We bless this year for all we learned,

For all we loved and lost

And for the quiet way it brought us

Nearer to our invisible destination.

JOHN O'DONOHUE

Excerpts from 'At the End of the Year' in his books,

To Bless the Space Between Us (US) / Benedictus (Europe)

Photo: Ann Cahill