Before I set off on Tuesday to relocate to Israel (‘You are travelling alone? All these bags for you?’ marvels the taxi driver at Tel Aviv airport) my friend Carolyn sent me this blessing for travellers by John O’Donohue. O’Donohue had a wonderful gift for finding the right words; and this prayer speaks to me. I particularly like the prompt not to ‘waste the invitations’ and the reminder that the encounters with people of all sorts ‘transform’.
Everything is really too new to say much at all about it. The staff at the Scots Hotel have been open and welcoming. ‘We are your family here,’ they say. ‘Ask us anything.’ And the learning is that before having anything to give I need to receive, and so the journey continues.
For the traveller
A journey can become a sacred thing
Make sure, before you go to take the time
To bless your going forth
To free your heart of ballast
So that the compass of your soul
May direct you towards
The territories of spirit
Where you will discover more of your hidden life
And the urgencies that deserve to claim you.
May you travel in an awakened way
Gathered wisely into your inner ground
That you may not waste the invitations
Which wait along the way to transform you
May you travel safely, arrived refreshed
And live your time away to its fullest
Return home, more enriched and free
To balance the gift of days which call you.
(John O’Donohue)
Stepping out of the boat... 
I was just thinking specifically, about you the other day, and was wondering whether you had arrived at your new destination?!
You are never far from thought, so hope you get settled in, and are prepared for the day to day requirements of your new position….Good luck and God Bless, Chris Mercer
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Thank you Chris! I enjoy your FB postings. You are very good at keeping the world in touch!
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