蜜芽传媒

Good morning.

The County Monaghan poet, Paddy Kavanagh, wrote that 鈥淕od is in the bits and pieces of everyday. A kiss here, and a laugh again, and sometimes tears鈥�. A deeply rooted man, Kavanagh had no time for a spirituality that didn鈥檛 deal with the reality of life as it is. His poems reflect a deep connectedness with the people and places that make up life. What we call in the Irish language, tir gr谩 鈥� a love of where you鈥檙e from.

When I was younger, this wasn鈥檛 something that I could identify with. My life always seemed to be defined more by where I was going, rather than where I was from. And that鈥檚 no bad thing: we all need to explore the world in all its richness and diversity 鈥� low-cost air travel has opened the entire world to us, in a way that was unimaginable to previous generations, who often lived and died in the same place.

Maybe for me it was only in leaving the small rural place where I am from, that I was able to re-discover it again. There is a bit of a paradox in life, it is only in going away, that we can come back. It is only in missing things, that we can discover them anew.

T.S. Eliot wrote that: 鈥渢he end of all our exploring, will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time鈥�.

So, this morning, I pray for fresh eyes with which to see the world 鈥� and for a fresh appreciation, that I may have the openness to embrace, a kiss here, a laugh there, and yes, sometimes even to the tears.

Amen.