I går fikk jeg følgende bønn tilsendt på e-post, og den egner seg jo godt for en padlepilegrim:
Lord, be within me to give me strength
Over me to protect me
Beneath me to support me
In front of me to be my guide
Behind me to prevent me falling away
Surrounding me to give me courage
So that alone, alone
I may walk into the great unknown.
Bønnen er hentet fra “Celtic Daily Light” av Ray Simpson (3. jan).
Her er en til fra samme bok (som jeg har lånt fra FB-siden til KEW):
I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown”. And he replied: “ Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be better to you than light, and safer than a known way”.
May the blessing of light be on you
light without light and light within.
May the blessed sunlight
shine upon you
and warm your heart
till it glows like a great peat fire
so that the stranger may come
and warm herself at it
as well as the friend.
And may the light shine
out of your eyes
like a candle set in the windows
of a house
bidding the wanderer
to come in out of the storm.
And may the blessing of the rain
be on you
the sweet soft rain.
May it fall upon your spirit
so that all the little flowers
may spring up
and shed their sweetness on the air.
And may the blessing of the
great rains be upon you
that they beat upon your spirit
and wash it fair and clean
and leave there many a shining pool
where the blue of heaven shines,
and sometimes a star.
And may the blessing of the earth
be on you
the great round earth.
May you ever have a kindly greeting
for people you pass
as you go along the roads.
And now may the Lord bless you
and bless you kindly.
An old Irish Blessing translated by B. O’Malley
(Texts borrowed from Celtic Daily Light by Ray Simpson)