Somewhere, out at the edges, the night
Is turning and the waves of darkness
Begin to brighten the shore of dawn.
The heavy dark falls back to earth
And the freed air goes wild with light,
The heart fills with fresh, bright breath
And thoughts stir to give birth to colour.
II.
I arise today
In the name of Silence
Womb of the Word,
In the name of Stillness
Home of Belonging,
In the name of the Solitude
Of the Soul and the Earth.
I arise today
Blessed by all things,
Wings of breath,
Delight of eyes,
Wonder of whisper,
Intimacy of touch,
Eternity of soul,
Urgency of thought,
Miracle of health,
Embrace of God.
May I live this day
Compassionate of heart,
Gentle in word,
Gracious in awareness,
Courageous in thought,
Generous in love.
Contents
Epigraph
Acknowledgments
Prologue
1. Awakening in the World: The Threshold of Belonging
The Belonging of the Earth
Belonging: The Wisdom of Rhythm
Why Do We Need to Belong
Restless and Lonesome
The Voices of Longing
The Feeling That Something Is Missing
Our Longing to Be Loved
Souclass="underline" The Beauty of the Broken Circle
Our Longing for Nature
The Sanctuary of a Favourite Place
The Longing of the Earth
Our Longing to Know
Discovery Is the Nature of the Soul
Life as a Pilgrimage of Discovery
The First Journey Creates the Traveller
Imagining the Time Before Coming Here
The Invisible World Is All Around Us
Forms of the Invisible
The Mystery of Resemblance
Home as the Cradle of Destiny
The Family as Nest of Belonging
Home Is Where You Belong
Childhood as a Magic Forest
The Belonging of Childhood
Innocence Keeps Mystery Playful
The Longing of Childhood Is Akin to Dream
Childhood’s Dark Innocence
The Red Bush of Ancestry
Parents as Memory Holders
Styles of Belonging
The Native
The Visitor
The Neighbour
The Wanderer
The Stranger
A Blessing
2. Presence: The Flame of Longing
To Realize That You Are Here
Presence Is Soul-Atmosphere
Music as Presence
The Silence of Sculpture
The Sanctuary of Human Presence
The Witness of Hands
Styles of Presence: The Encouraging Presence Helps You to Awaken Your Gift
The Blurred Presence
The Angry Presence
The Charismatic Presence
The Anxious Presence
Dignity of Presence
The Architecture of Belonging
In the Heart, the Ache of Longing
Celebration: When the Moment Blossoms
Functionalism Kills Presence
Without Reverence There Is No Sense of Presence
The Ascetical Presence: The Wisdom to Subtract from The Feast
We Cannot Live Without the Infinite
The Blessings of Desire
To Keep the Contours of Choice Porous
“Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing.”
Great Choices Need the Shelter of Blessing
To Be Faithful to Your Longing
The Addiction of Distraction
Irony and Recognition
Longing Keeps Your Sense of Life Kindled
Each Person Incarnates Longing
To Find Your True Home Within Your Life
The Eros of Thought
Our Longing Is an Echo of the Divine Longing
A Blessing
3. Prisons We Choose to Live In
The Beauty of Wild Distance
The House Keeps the Universe Out
Our Fear of Freedom: The Refuge of False Belonging
The Cage of Frightened Identity
The Fixed Image Atrophies Longing
To Become Free Is Everything
The Mental Prison
We Take upon Ourselves the Images Made for Us
The Prison of Guilt
The Prison of Shame
The Prison of Belief
The Wildness of Celtic Spirituality
The Lightness and Imagination of the Fairy World
Your Vision Is Your Home
The Haunted Room in the Mind
The Shelter of Continuity
Certainty Freezes the Mind
The Danger of the Name
The Limit as Invitation to the Beyond
The Delicate Art of Freeing Yourself
The True Shelter of the Porous Wall
To Roll the Stone off the Heart
If You Cannot Forgive, You Are Still in Jail
Our Secret Companions and Liberators
Soul-Shrine
The Angel of Attraction and Inspiration
The Angel as Artist of Your Transfiguration
A Blessing
4. Suffering as the Dark Valley of Broken Belonging
Our Secret Kinship with the Darkness
Light Has Many Faces—the Dark Has One
The Bright Night of the Earth
The Tree as Artist of Belonging
The Suffering of Self-exile
Why Are You So Vulnerable?
The Pain of Exposure
The Loss of Spontaneity
The Point of Equilibrium
When You Stand in the Place of Pain, You Are No One
Suffering’s Slow Teachings
The Sense of Meaning Vanishes
“When Sorrows Come, They Come Not Single Spies, but in Battalions”
The New Window Is Open
How Is the Hard-Earned Harvest Divided?
I Know, I Alone
The Mystery of Transfiguration
Behind the Dark a Subtle Brightening
Sweet Honey from Old Failures
Unconscious Suffering