A friend recently shared this with me and I thought, in turn, I’d share it with you:
Go forth in peace
Be still within yourself and know that the trail is beautiful.
May the winds be gentle upon your face and your direction straight and true as the flight of the eagle.
Walk in beauty and harmony with God and all people.
I can’t begin to tell you how desperately I want to “walk in beauty and harmony with God” and with each and every person I encounter.
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{ 36 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks Paul
James,
Thank my friend who pointed it out to me!
Paul
Beautiful… I want to walk that way as well, but so often, I stumble. Thanks for this blessing to remember!
Fran,
Happily, we stumble along together.
Paul
This is a beautiful blessing and very challenging as well. I also want to walk that way but I stumble.
Blessings are so important. It is so meaningful and peace-giving when the priest gives a blessing to the people at the closing of the Mass – not just the brief one but the blessings where we are asked to bow our heads for a blessing. For me this “seals” in my heart the incredible liturgy which we have shared. Thanks very much.
Lynda,
I agree about the importance of blessings. I have heard that in some Hispanic cultures it is common for parents to bless their children before they leave the house. Doesn’t that sound great?
Paul
I often bless my little grandchildren and now my six year old granddaughter blesses me as well. And that is certainly a blessing beyond measure!!
PFO makes it a little easier, a little more likely, that we all walk that walk. Thank you for sharing your blessing.
Denise,
You say the nicest things.
Paul
Wonderful sentiments but, taken as an instruction or order, terribly tough. I seem to find that the head winds are stronger than ever and my resolve to bend into them not what it once was.
It also reminds me very much of the Irish blessing;
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Simon,
Ah, yes. The famous Irish blessing. I once spoke the first couple of lines to a friend who was headed abroad. He replied, “Well, I’m flying so I hope the road doesn’t rise to meet me!”
Paul
Thank-you Paul. I don’t only stumble but fall timr and again. Like Simon Ialso thought of the Irish Blessing.
Jo,
Great minds, we are told, think alike.
Paul
Thank you for sharing this very beautiful Navaho Blessing! With thoughts like these, how can I not have a beautiful day ‘on the trail’?
Camille,
Vaya con Dios!
Paul
Beautiful. Remind me of the Irish blessing: “May the wind be always at your back…” The journey is the thing. The destination, who knows.
Anne
Anne,
As you can see from the comments of others, the Irish blessing has been recalled by many and remembering a blessing has to be a good thing, right?
Paul
I can see this as a step-by-step prescription:
1. Go forth in peace. (If you begin, at this moment, with anger or anxiety at the front of your thoughts, you can’t hope to do the following steps. Drop those burdens now, even if experience tells you you’ll soon pick them up again.)
2. Be still within yourself and know that the trail is beautiful. (Forgive yourself and those you need to forgive, be grateful for your blessings, and try not to pick up those burdens you set down in Step 1.)
3. May the winds be gentle upon your face and your direction straight and true as the flight of the eagle. (Do not let your problems overwhelm your gratitude. Remembering gratitude and forgiveness, and leaving your resentments at the side of the road, you can and should proceed with integrity from now on. Minor quibble: I’ve seen a lot of eagles fly, and they rarely fly straight and true.)
4. Walk in beauty and harmony with God and all people. (This is the natural outcome of, and a reminder to continue working on, the above.)
Small steps are easier than big ones….
Jim,
Wow. Thank you.
Paul
Womderful prayer for a morning which began with an eagle rising from the beach in NW Washington.
Robin,
Lucky, lucky you!
Paul
Good stuff…
Tim,
Right ’nuff!
Paul
Walking in beauty does not refer to the outside world. It refers to the beauty within, that exudes in our relationship with all God’s creation, particularly human beings. Walking in beauty occurs when our hearts are in the right place in interactions with creation. Walking in beauty is a gift from God, the Master of all Creation. Walking in beauty is the gift of God Himself within us.
Helen,
What a wonderful reflection. Thank you.
Paul
I don’t have anything to add. Like Simon, I find it trying and I’m easily distracted by the injustice and flagrant inequalities in our world. I also sense that history teaches us that time moves forward and what we see now as heartwrenching and having no solution can only be faced on a spiritual level, like what so many here say. I deal with it by forgiving myself and accepting my human frailty, constantly reminding myself that others are also only human, yet each reflects some aspect of our creator, admitting to myself that “only God knows why he made some the way he did”. As a new mother, I find it helpful to imagine each and every other person as having once been just like our little Teo! Steven Curtis Chapman’s song again, “Got some mountains to climb and some valleys we’re goin’ through!” And, Jim’s right, eagles don’t fly straight, they “go with the flow” and ride the air, living in the present moment. They don’t work at it. Maybe that’s the trick, don’t work so hard at it, you disturb and disrupt the forces around you that are there to see that you’re easily brought to your destination. Again, easier said than done. In theory, it’s so plain to see. It’s another thing altogether to put it into practice! Yikes!!
Emma – your “new mother” meditation (trying to imagine everyone as they once were) is a lovely one. Last fall a group of students and I got to talk to the abbot of a Buddhist temple in Japan. He was a new father, and talked about discovering how to meditate while rocking a baby to sleep. Parenting has a lot to teach us about God…may you have as much joy in the journey as we have had (and I wish for you somewhat more sleep than I got in those early days, or get now with teenagers!)
Emma,
As you write, “I deal with it by forgiving myself and accepting my human frailty, constantly reminding myself that others are also only human…” Stick with that and everything will be wonderful
Paul
A friend and I went out for a long delayed dinner to catch up with each other. We ended up sitting on a wall overlooking the parking lot outside the local water ice (a Philadelphia delicacy) place, the grit eclipsed by our joy in black cherry and blue raspberry flavors (yes, you can go back to your childhood). I looked up to see the last bits of the sunset still hanging in this sky and thought “here is God…”
Thanks for the reminder to look up (even if I’m unlikely to see an eagle here…)
Michelle,
I loved this reflection, especially “the grit eclipsed by our joy.” Perfect.
Paul
Misread this part: “Be still within yourself and know that the trail is beautiful.”
as “Be still within yourself and know that the TRIAL is beautiful.”
And it made me feel better!
Jaymee,
I’m glad you realized you had misread it.
Paul
I love prayers/blessings/pieces of wisdom like this one. So rich in meaning and inspiration, yet short enough to carry around in your head, ready for you to draw on whenever you need to!
Cathy,
I’m with you. I’m a sucker for blessings like this one.
Paul
I think you do