I was standing in the sanctuary yesterday just before the rehearsal for my daughter’s wedding started. I was having a little chat with her mother (I do that sometimes), and I said, “I wish you could be here.” And then she reminded me that she is. It was then that I smiled while the tears flowed. I really am profoundly blessed.

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Postscript:

Just as I was composing this reflection I noticed this John O’Donohue quote that a FB friend posted. (I love serendipitous moments.)

“May you know that absence is alive with hidden presence, that nothing is ever lost or forgotten.

May the absences in your life grow full of eternal echo.

May you sense around you the secret Elsewhere where the presences that have left you dwell…”

• John O’Donohue