Book Review of O'Donohue's "To Bless the Space Between Us"

To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings
John O’Donohue
Book: Random House, 2008, $22.95

To Bless the Space Between Us: A Collection of Invocations and Blessings
John O’Donohue
featuring the music of irish harpist Áine Minogue
CD set: Sounds True, 2008, $29.95

"When we stand before crucial thresholds in our lives," observes Irish poet and philosopher John O'Donohue, "we have no rituals to protect, encourage, and guide us as we cross over into the unknown.” Following seven rhythms of the human journey—Beginnings, Desires, Thresholds, Homecoming, States of the Heart, Callings, and Beyond Endings—O’Donohue blesses us with words of profound grace and wisdom that keep company with all of our passages and transitions, from the known and familiar to the new, unmapped unknown, from joyous to difficult and even dark. He explains “blessing” as a way of life, as a lens through which the whole world is transformed, and he invites us to awaken our own power to bless. In his own transition of passing, he leaves us this last lyrical gift of his words and blessing.

~ Helene H. Emerson