Dear, Beloved Daddy, Today marks fifteen years since your soul returned to its source, and you fully realized your eternal self. You were loving, wise, passionate, tough; You were angry and fragile. You remain the most brilliant person I have ever met. We knew and understood one another, as if this life was perhaps just a reunion for us. And as old friends tend to, we spoke to each other in the language of eyes, and clashed like prize fighters. We worked together, building whatever our minds envisioned. We shared ideas and had some epic debates. Today I give thanks for the whole experience. You groomed me to survive a tough and complex world; You challenged me to know, love and improve it. You gifted me generously with a commitment to justice, a love for oppressed people, an understanding of the power-politics-money-history-people-spirit nexus. You were courageous-- fearful while pushing on. Your shortcomings and bad behavior gave me resilience, a desire to protect the weak, and made me the resourceful woman that I now am. So today I wrap your soul in a blessing. I pray that your bond with the eternal, the Creator, God our Father, is as close as our breath is to our lungs. You often told me that in the African world view, the family is composed of both the living and the dead. Our connection speaks that truth. I love you, Daddy. I never gave you the gift of a poem. So please enjoy this one by John ODonohue : Though we need to weep your loss, You dwell in that safe place in our hearts, Where no storm or night or pain can reach you. Your love was like the dawn Brightening over our lives Awakening beneath the dark A further adventure of colour. The sound of your voice Found for us A new music That brightened everything. Whatever you enfolded in your gaze Quickened in the joy of its being; You placed smiles like flowers On the altar of the heart. Your mind always sparkled With wonder at things. Though your days here were brief, Your spirit was live, awake, complete. We look towards each other no longer From the old distance of our names; Now you dwell inside the rhythm of breath, As close to us as we are to ourselves. Though we cannot see you with outward eyes, We know our soul’s gaze is upon your face, Smiling back at us from within everything To which we bring our best refinement. Let us not look for you only in memory, Where we would grow lonely without you. You would want us to find you in presence, Beside us when beauty brightens, When kindness glows And music echoes eternal tones. When orchids brighten the earth, Darkest winter has turned to spring; May this dark grief flower with hope In every heart that loves you. May you continue to inspire us: To enter each day with a generous heart. To serve the call of courage and love Until we see your beautiful face again In that land where there is no more separation, Where all tears will be wiped from our mind, And where we will never lose you again. -John O’Donohue On the death of the Beloved
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 12:51:09 +0000