Good morning, Digital Neighbors! Happy Saturday to all you fine souls milling around on Rubin Report, Phetasy, Outspoken, and of course here at Padre’s. A meditation for the morning—or whenever you happen across this post. I came across John O’Donohue earlier this century, a few years after he published Anam Cara. Back in the days of bookstores, the trend in the 90s was all things Celtic. Not necessarily Irish (bless my mother’s heritage), but more of a broad presentation and exploration of all things Celtic. I think it came right after the “all things angels” trend at Waldenbooks, Borders, or B. Dalton. I do miss wandering around bookstores—there was something both comforting and exciting about it. I’m sure some culture has a word for it. I know Barnes & Nobles is still out there but is not the same as those smaller corner nook stores.

The main impact for me was more Irish, Scottish, and once in a while Welsh names at baptisms or among the children in the classroom. More Celtic books of prayer, spirituality, history, or culture dominated the shelves and found their way into my possession. It was an enjoyable trend. I hope you have a great day ahead of you.

We are always on a journey from darkness into light. At first, we are children of the darkness. Your body and your face were formed first in the kind darkness of your mother’s womb. Your birth was a first journey from darkness into light. All your life, your mind lives within the darkness of your body. Every thought that you have is a flint moment, a spark of light from your inner darkness. The miracle of thought is its presence in the night side of your soul; the brilliance of thought is born in darkness. Each day is a journey. We come out of the night into the day. All creativity awakens at this primal threshold where light and darkness test and bless each other. You only discover balance in your life when you learn to trust the flow of this ancient rhythm. The year also is a journey with the same rhythm. The Celtic people had a deep sense of the circular nature of our journey. We come out of the darkness of winter into the possibility and effervescence of springtime.

O’Donohue, John. Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom

Bonus Word of the Day: vellichor n. the strange wistfulness of used bookstores, which are somehow infused with the passage of time—filled with thousands of old books you’ll never have time to read, each of which is itself locked in its own era, bound and dated and papered over like an old room the author abandoned years ago, a hidden annex littered with thoughts left just as they were on the day they were captured.

Koenig, John. The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows (p. 163). Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition.

Carrbridge, UK - Joshua Earle - Unsplash