Monday, September 13, 2010

Beannacht
("Blessing")
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 grey window
and the ghost of loss
gets in to you,
may a flock of colours,
indigo, red, green,
and azure blue
come to awaken in you
a meadow of delight.
When the canvas frays
in the currach 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.


~ John O'Donohue ~

(Echoes of Memory)

Written by John O'Donohue as found in his book, Anam Cara


( © John O’Donohue. All rights reserved)

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Our Values

We seek to gather family here in Charlottesville. At a pace that results in peace and health.
We relate deeply with the ancient Irish Church. Though our style does not include the traditions or liturgy of the Irish, or any other, the values of the Irish are close to our own.

Values like:

Love
- the center of all that we believe

Heroic hospitality
- to draw out and extend our souls to another, along with meeting physical needs, as a community.

Pilgrimage
- followers of Christ are just that, He is our Lord, so, we seek to respect the conscience of each person, if the Lord is moving someone, as a community we should bless them. Pilgrimage is a lifelong following of the Holy Spirit. Check out: Ps84:5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, Whose heart is set on pilgrimage. (read on, it's a beautiful chapter)

Facilitation of Life
- creating a safe place where all of us can grow healthy and become whole.

Spiritual community
- a one on one friendship is our primary relationship ideally (this was known to the ancient Irish as the Anam Cara relationship) -
Our secondary relationship would be something like a home group, or a smaller gathering of some kind -
The larger, corporate gathering would be considered our tertiary spiritual community, one that offers sanctuary for time with God and each other.