On page 126 of the paperback he gives the example of a woman ( ‘who was a saintly person’) nearing death who feared she was going to hell. John O’Donohue was once a priest, but gave up on it I think I’d read in another book that he didn’t agree with all that it stood for. I liked his brother’s comment that John would say that the valley that he was born and raised in was ‘a private valley with its own private sky.’ Which creates a wonderful image of a man at oneness with things. John O’Donohue’s brother Pat writes the fine introduction, stating that these were originally written as four booklets, it may go towards explaining the occasional repetition. The too many poems quoted here I found to be a distraction from the text rather than an aid. It's strange, given the more limited nature of this book (the writer’s thoughts and musings on the four elements - Air, Water, Fire and Stone) that that didn’t serve to focus things more. There was a beautifully unforced nature to his writing that didn’t consciously strive for effect, a deceptively simple style that took you along for an enjoyable, enlightening and thought-provoking ride. In other books his thoughts seem more concise and focused often made up of statements that simply seem natural, even common sense. I think the writer was still working at finding his authorial voice. I usually leave any philosophical books I read covered in pencilled asterisks and underlinings, but looking back through the pages here, I see just a handful of scrawls. I enjoyed John O’Donohue’s books ‘Anam Cara,’ ‘Eternal Echoes’ and ‘Divine Beauty,’ but this, which I believe was written earlier, but not published until after his death in 2008, for me, overall failed to ignite. With a foreword written by his beloved brother, Pat, this illuminating book is an inspired reflection on the ancient wisdom of the earth. As O'Donohue explores a range of themes relating to the way we live our lives today, he reveals how the energy and rhythm of the natural world-its innocence and creativity, its power and splendor-hold profound lessons for us all. O'Donohue's readers know him as both a spiritual guide and a poet, and in this work he exhibits both qualities, sharing his Celtic heritage and his love for his native landscape in the west of Ireland. The loss of his powerfully wise and lyrical voice has been profoundly missed, but his many readers are given a special opportunity to revisit John in a new book based on a series of papers he wrote on the elements of water, stone, air, and fire, now published here for the first time. Unfortunately he died suddenly at age fifty-two just as his book of blessings, To Bless the Space Between Us, was being published. John O'Donohue won hundreds of thousands of admirers with his now classic work on Celtic spirituality Anam Cara. From the beloved author of the bestselling To Bless the Space Between Us and Anam Cara comes a new work that shares his insights on nature and the ancient wisdom of this earth.
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