The Long Road Home: John O'donohue

Would the person who is posting at this site (2ifbysea375blogspot dot com - The Long Road Home) please contact us? We love that John's work inspires you to want to share; however, we imagine that you are not aware that by posting copyrighted works, in their entirety and without permission from the copyright owner, you could be putting the owner's rights in jeopardy. We would love to support your sharing by finding a way to grant you permission to post excerpts with appropriate attributions and links. We have searched for contact information but cannot find any on your blog site.

If we do not hear from you, we will have to turn to Blogger (your blog host) for help; and their process is limited to our sending a message and them disabling your blog. We'd rather talk to you than have to do that.

Thanks,

John's business team

email: jodoffice@gmail.com

New Website for John

We have re-designed the web site for John and plan to post all the news and updates there in the future (in the "News" section). We'll keep this blogspot "live" until we've had some time with the new website - just to be sure we are able to get the word out!

warmly and looking forward,

Lindaa

email

Reflections on John O'Donohue

-- by two old friends

In Friday's Irish Times (13 November), an essay entitled: Life melts our fear of old age and recasts it as a sweet reward, by Michael Harding appeared. The essay remembers John and his love of life.

An article by Michael D. Higgins, entitled: A Friendship and a blessing, followed in Saturday's edition (14 November) of the same publication, in which the author reflects on his friendship with John and comments on John's recently re-released book of poetry, Echoes of Memory.

For All Souls' Day

From Anam Cara -- "Are Space and Time Different in the Eternal World?"

* * *

When the soul leaves the body, it is no longer under the burden and control of space and time. The soul is free; distance and separation hinder it no more. The dead are our nearest neighbors; they are all around us. Meister Eckhart was once asked, Where does the soul of a person go when the person dies? He said, no place. Where else would the soul be going? Where else is the eternal world? It can be nowhere other than here. We have falsely spatialized the eternal world. We have driven the eternal out into some kind of distant galaxy. Yet the eternal world does not seem to be a place but rather a different state of being. The soul of the person goes no place because there is no place else to go. This suggests that the dead are here with us, in the air that we are moving through all the time. The only difference between us and the dead is that they are now in an invisible form. You cannot see them with the human eye. But you can sense the presence of those you love who have died. With the refinement of your soul, you can sense them. You feel that they are near.

* * *

From Benedictus (To Bless The Space Between Us in the U.S.)

"On Passing a Graveyard"

May perpetual light shine upon
The faces of all who rest here.

May the lives they lived
Unfold further in spirit.

May the remembering earth
Mind every memory they brought.

May the rains from the heavens
Fall gently upon them.

May the wildflowers and grasses
Whisper their wishes into the light.

May we reverence the village of presence
In the stillness of this silent field.

(C) John O'Donohue. All rights reserved.
Permission requests should be directed to:linda@johnodonohue.com

www.johnodonohue.com

Radio Ireland - Interview about Echoes of Memory

John's brother, Patrick O'Donohue, and John's dear friend, Lelia Doolan, gave a radio interview this morning on RTE radio 1. The progamme is "Today with Pat Kenny" and it is available as a podcast if you'd like to listen.

Collection of Poetry - Just Released in U.K.

A new edition of John's collection of poems, Echoes of Memory (originally published in 1994), is now available for purchase in the United Kingdom.

A new US edition is planned for 2010.

In this powerful, evocative collection, master storyteller John O’Donohue explores themes of love and loss, beginnings and endings. Inspired by the ancient wisdom of the Celtic tradition and the rugged, majestic landscape of his birth, the west of Ireland, here he also creates a unique vision of a place and time, and the echo of a memory that will never fade. In these poems, the west of Ireland landscape and climate in all their harshness are metaphors for the emotional climate of the work. --Poetry Ireland Review

Speaking of Faith Interview to be re-broadcast

Krista Tippett‘s 2007 conversation with John O‘Donohue,
“The Inner Landscape of Beauty: John O’Donohue’s Vision”
will air on public radio stations nation wide from
Thursday, September 17 through Wednesday, September 23.

For a list of US broadcast locations and times visit: http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/stations/index.shtml
The interview will also be available online: http://speakingoffaith.org