I don’t believe in religion, but the aesthetics of Catholicism have stuck with me. I love the way church incense coats my hair and skin. It is a safe smell, like a blanket… I envy the faithful. There are shrines dotted around the hillsides here in Ireland, places where saints have supposedly appeared and healed the sick. There are wells of holy water and statues in the rocks, huts filled with prayer cards and gardens filled with painted stones in memory of loved ones who have passed away. I like to visit them occasionally. I sit in the stillness and observe people crying and praying and I close my eyes and try to let some of their hope get carried on the air and through my pores. I would like to believe that everything is accounted for, that there is life after this one, and that all of our decisions hold some kind of significance or moral worth. There is weight in religion. It is an anchor of sorts.
~ Jessica Andrews, Saltwater: A Novel (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, January 14, 2020)
Notes: Photo: Patryk Sadowski with Church of Ireland
Another beautiful share. Thank you David.
Thank you Julian
” I close my eyes and try to let some of their hope get carried on the air and through my pores.” – my favorite line of this beautiful post
Yes!
” I close my eyes and try to let some of their hope get carried on the air and through my pores.” – my favorite line of this beautiful post
Yes. For me too!
Some lovely content shared again this week, David. Love following this blog.
Thank you Joel!
Sounds spiritual to me – and haunting. I think one can doubt and question and still seek to believe. Therein lies hope, I think.
Well stated Mimi.
Shucks, Dave…thanks 😊
Reblogged this on Me In The Middle and commented:
Good Morning! Sharing a lovely post by one of my favorite bloggers.
It is cold on this shore. One of my greatest comforts in western Ireland (there were many!) was seeing Mary statues out in the wild hills, and ancient home-made Stations of the Cross in folks’ yards.
Never been to Ireland. Want so much to see what you describe. Thanks for stoking the fire.
She’s callin’ for ye — ye HAVE to go! 🙂☘️ (5 hrs over, 6 back and [I hope it’s still so] every Aer Lingus plane is in the safe-keepin’ of the saint painted on its nose!)
smiling, I think so Carol.
My mother’s faith runs deep. It is her ballast, her anchor, her strength. As I watch her in these final days of her presence here on earth, it is her faith I feel embracing her, supporting her, carrying her. Because yes, in her faith there is hope. Ultimately, it is her faith that will carry her over the threshold.
Thank you for the words and tears this morning David.
Wow. Thanks for sharing Louise. Beautiful.
Sending you a hug, Louise…
I feel exactly like the author… lovely share, David.
So me too Dale…
I had a feeling…
Dude, you’re on a roll. Two for two this week.
Smiling.
I’m both an aesthetic catholic and a “cafeteria” catholic. Some stuff goes down easy, other not so much.
Some is Something.
Amen brother
My favorite line as well…”I sit in the stillness and observe people crying and praying and I close my eyes and try to let some of their hope get carried on the air and through my pores”
(and I wonder how many have wandered into a Church sit for awhile, find hope, comfort, strength and sheltered…our hospital is in the next town over…it is Catholic the chapel is visited daily…so many needing direction, comfort and solace)
Early this month my 89 year old father in law was vacationing, staying at his son’s home two flights away…He has limited vision and hearing and some how he managed on foot to find his was to attend daily mass…it is his “anchor”…he is now back home…under 24 hours care, his earthly journey is near its end…Heaven bound…
Oh so lovely
I feel the same way.
Me too…
I’m an atheist, but find this passage compelling.
Agnostic here. And me too.