Monday, February 6, 2012

When you have traveled too fast



You have traveled too fast over false ground;
Now your soul has come to take you back.

Take refuge in your senses, open up
To all the small miracles you rushed through.

Become inclined to watch the way of rain
When it falls slow and free.

Imitate the habit of twilight,
Taking time to open the well of color
That fostered the brightness of day.

Draw alongside the silence of stone
Until its calmness can claim you.
Be excessively gentle with yourself.

Stay clear of those vexed in spirit.
Learn to linger around someone of ease
Who feels they have all the time in the world.

Gradually, you will return to yourself,
Having learned a new respect for your heart
And the joy that dwells far within slow time.

John O’Donohue

This is just a portion of a poem entitled "For One Who Is Exhausted."  I find refuge in the image of my soul coming to take me back. There are times when we all move too fast and miss the small miracles that are always nearby.  Why not come into the present moment and the "joy that dwells far within slow time?"

1 comment:

  1. As I read this poem, I was instantly reminded that all of these suggestions I readily did as a child.

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