Beannacht

By Gerry Adams (for the Leargas blog)

Over the weekend I had a notion that this blog would be a good place to cogitate over family and life and its burdens and all that goes with that. I thought I might deal with some of the events in the life of my clan and in my own life. Events which are now in the media. But on reflection it’s too near Christmas for all that. Maybe some other time. But not now.

For now I want to thank all those people who have been so good to me and my family. Buiochas to the professionals who have been so kind to us. And to friends and comrades who have phoned and texted and sent solidarity greetings. And emails. And others who don’t have my contact details but who sent words of support through third parties. Or cards.

Thanks also to others who approached me on the street like the woman who came to me after Mass to say her family were in the same situation. By the time I got home that day four people told me the same thing. And that was before I did the interview with RTE.

People are good.

And thanks also to my wonderful family for their grace and forbearance.

I offer John O Donoghue’s Beannacht up to you all. To family, friends, detractors, naysayers and supporters alike. It is in a wonderful book Anam Chara, which I meditate on from time to time but it came by email to me on Saturday from a very good sister from Clare. It is very appropriate for the mood I’m in. Seo daoibh:

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 may a slow
Wind work these words
Of love around you,
An invisible cloak to mind your life.

Nollaigh Shona Daoibh Uiligh.

Urgent Appeal