Eternal Echoes
Exploring Our Hunger To Belong
-
- £3.99
-
- £3.99
Publisher Description
There is a divine restlessness in the human heart today, an eternal echo of longing that lives deep within us and never lets us settle for what we have or where we are. Now, in this exquisitely crafted, inspirational book, John O'Donohue explores that most basic of human desires - the desire to belong. It is a desire that constantly draws us towards new possibilities of self-discovery, friendship and creativity.
In Eternal Echoes John O'Donohue embarks upon a journey of discovery into the heart of our post-modern world - a hungry, homeless world that suffers from a deep sense of isolation and fragmentation. With the thousand-year-old shelter of divine belonging now shattered, we seem to have lost our way in this magical, wondrous universe.
Here, as we explore perennial themes and gain insight from a range of ancient beliefs, we draw inspiration from Ireland's rich spiritual heritage of Celtic thought and imagination. It is a heritage of profound, mystical wisdom that will open pathways to peace and contentment, and lead us to live with creativity, honour and compassion the one life that has been given to us.
Destined to become a timeless classic of vision and hope, this is an imaginative tour de force by one of today's most inspirational writers.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Following his popular Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom, O'Donohue offers a soaring, eloquent meditation on the art of living. In most people, he maintains, an innate, deep-seated hunger for belonging and relatedness is frustrated by our high-pressured, isolating consumerist culture. Distilling guideposts of Celtic spirituality from traditional Irish legends, fairy lore, lyric poetry and Druidic nature-worship, he also tosses into the pot some Zen Buddhism, Jewish mysticism and quotes from Simone Weil, Nietzsche, Yeats, Auden, Neruda, Merleau-Ponty and Romanian philosopher E.M. Cioran. O'Donohue invites readers to make their lives a constant pilgrimage of discovery. This, he says, involves freeing oneself from the mental prisons of guilt, rigid belief and self-punishment; learning to embrace one's individuality; and coming to terms with the loss, absence or death of loved ones. Though the writing occasionally gets syrupy, this intense, concentrated inquiry towers above most self-help or New Age fare. It includes pertinent commentary not only on addiction, parenting and music but also on the lure of cults and the resurgence of political tribalism, whether in Northern Ireland, Yugoslavia or Russia. A Catholic scholar who lives by a lake in Ireland, O'Donohue has produced a treasury for readers of all faiths--a demanding, high-wire existentialist adventure that will inspire readers to re-evaluate their goals and ways of being in the world. O'Donohue ends each chapter with a lyrical blessing or prayer, and his book itself is a profound, healing prayer.