Saturday, August 9, 2008

Teach me about Love, Master

Blessings & Joy to All Who Visit Here,

I've not written for a very long time as I've been busy living life. I was thinking about Kahlil Gribran this morning and came across this passage in "The Prophet", which I share with you below, because its too beautiful not too. The "he" of which he speaks of in the passage is the embodiment of Love.

Then said Almitra, “Speak to us of Love, Master.”
And he raised his head and looked upon the people, and there fell a stillness upon them that was heard for miles, and with a great serious voice he said:
”My children, when love beckons you to follow, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep, follow.
And when love’s wings enfold you, yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you of trust and faith, believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams in the end as the north wind lays waste your garden of eden.
For even as love crowns you, he crucifies you. For he is there as much for your growth as for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them as they cling to the earth with his love.
Like sheaves of corn, let him gather you unto himself and thresh you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness to obtain your purity.
And kneads you until you are pliant;
It is then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God’s feast.
All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life’s heart.
But if in your fear you withdraw and seek only peace and pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and move out of love’s threshing-floor and go into the seasonless world where you shall laugh to your heart’s content into oblivion, for not all of your laughter lies in certainty, some of it finds inself in sadness and inner weeping.
Love gives naught but itself, and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor can it be possessed by another;
For love is sufficient and independent unto love.
When you love, you should not say, “God is in my heart,” but rather, I am in the heart of God.”
And think not you can direct the course of love, for if it finds you worthy, it directs your course.
True love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.
But if you love, let love’s needs have desires, and let those be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully from that love.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate on love’s ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips, for that is love truly.

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