“Life is a gift. But it is a gift shrouded in pain.”
~ Noel O’Donoghue

To walk in this world,
to receive the gifts of earth and sea and sky,
to hear the breath of our origins in the wind,
to step upon the land of our ancestors,
to greet creatures great and small in wonder, 
to listen with compassion to the earth’s memory,
is to live.

Beauty is all around,
in the ancient and the new,
in places near and far away,
in all paths that seek wholeness and peace,
in all hearts that hold space for the other.

Beauty is within each one,
beloved and valued by the Eternal Presence,
bearing holiness in our intricately made bodies,
birthing gentleness among the weary.

We carry sorrow too though.
It is our companion through this life.
The brokenness around us cannot be ignored.
Neither can the brokenness within.

The pain of the inhumane.
The pain of the neglected.
The pain of the victims of violence.
The pain of the discarded and unworthy.

The pain of injustice.
The pain of separation.
The pain of exclusion.
The pain of indifference.

Suffering is all around, 
in the long ago and the near at hand,
in places we know 
and those just beyond our reach,
in all paths that sow division and fear,
in all hearts that close themselves off.

Suffering is within each one,
in the feeling of being lost or forsaken,
removed from the deep love we once knew,
in the harshness of life on the edge.

Yet may our love of life not be diminished.

Bless the suffering ones, O Lord,
bind the wounded ones,
bring peace to places of discord,
encourage the despairing,
gladden the hearts of the grieving, 
lend your light to all our paths.

Bless and protect the sacred gifts of life
that flow in and among us,
that all of us
and indeed all of creation
may one day worship at the altar
where heaven and earth meet
and all injury may be pardoned
and all suffering be relieved
and all brokenness be mended
and all tears be wiped away.

~ Mark Lloyd Richardson