A New-to-Me Tradition
The following image came by email yesterday. An Irish tradition with a postscript, said the sender.
Yes. Agreed.
A Tradition, More Familiar
From the Scottish poet, Robert Burns.
You know the one. It’s a line sung round the world every year on this day’s eventide.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?
If ever there were a year to ask and answer that question, this one is it. 2020. The year when at latest count, 343,000 persons — who were here last New Year’s Eve — are no longer with us.
Should those “old acquaintances,” friends, and loved ones be forgot and never brought to mind? No! Definitely not! In fact, Burns himself encouraged remembering, As he wrote in the chorus of “Auld Lang Syne” (English translation) —
For times gone by, my dear. For times gone by, We will take a cup of kindness yet
For times gone by.
Praying for health, safety, love and peace in 2021.
Short but sweet & so timely. Looking forward to more of these uplifting & informative blogs dear sister n 2021.
Thank you, Pat. Kindest Wishes to You and Yours for a Very Happy and Healthy 2021.
another homage to the Irish – beloved poet John O’Donohue’s New Year’s poem. Happy New Year, Pat!
AT THE END OF THE YEAR
As this year draws to its end,
We give thanks for the gifts it brought
And how they became inlaid within
Where neither time nor tide can touch them…
Days when beloved faces shone brighter
With light from beyond themselves;
And from the granite of some secret sorrow
A stream of buried tears loosened.
We bless this year for all we learned,
For all we loved and lost
And for the quiet way it brought us
Nearer to our invisible destination.
JOHN O’DONOHUE