{"id":1265,"date":"2012-08-03T08:39:38","date_gmt":"2012-08-03T14:39:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wrestlingwithyourself\/?p=1265"},"modified":"2012-08-03T08:39:38","modified_gmt":"2012-08-03T14:39:38","slug":"kahlil-gibran-on-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wrestlingwithyourself\/2012\/08\/kahlil-gibran-on-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Kahlil Gibran on Love"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kahlil Gibran on Love<\/p>\n

When love beckons to you, follow him,
\nThough his ways are hard and steep.
\nAnd when his wings enfold you yield to him,
\nThough the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
\nAnd when he speaks to you believe in him,
\nThough his voice may shatter your dreams
\nas the north wind lays waste the garden.<\/p>\n

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
\nEven as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
\nSo shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.<\/p>\n

Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
\nHe threshes you to make you naked.
\nHe sifts you to free you from your husks.
\nHe grinds you to whiteness.
\nHe kneads you until you are pliant;
\nAnd then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God\u2019s sacred feast.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n

But if in your fear you would seek only love\u2019s peace and love\u2019s pleasure,
\nThen it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love\u2019s threshing-floor,
\nInto the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
\nLove gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
\nLove possesses not nor would it be possessed;
\nFor love is sufficient unto love.<\/p>\n

When you love you should not say, \u201cGod is in my heart,\u201d but rather, \u201cI am in the heart of God.\u201d
\nAnd think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.<\/p>\n

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
\nBut if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
\nTo melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
\nTo know the pain of too much tenderness.
\nTo be wounded by your own understanding of love;
\nAnd to bleed willingly and joyfully.
\nTo wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
\nTo rest at the noon hour and meditate love\u2019s ecstasy;
\nTo return home at eventide with gratitude;
\nAnd then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.<\/p>\n

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