Participants of the annual Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Parade march down 5th Avenue, Sunday, June 25, 2006, in New York. This year the parade motto is The Fight for Love and Life. (AP Photo)
If love indeed is an eternal quest, the following poem I chose as my guide me, and hopefully it does.
Kahlil Gibran on Love
When love beckons to you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you.
Even as he is for your growth so is he 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 in their clinging to the earth.
Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred 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 would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient 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 love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these 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.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate 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.
29 June 2006
THE FIGHT FOR LOVE AND LIFE
I am not an expert when it comes to LOVE.
For in my life, I have only truly loved three men (and a baby), and if my idea of LOVE is right afterall, and if all my friends around are giving me the correct advise and impressions, the bear with me so !
My first love was, of course, sweet and unrequited. I could still remember, like a song. His name is forever etched in my memory. And it starts with letter J.
The second was dangerous, full of passion, kaput. And with him, I was lost my virginity :)
And the third (this one) hopefully conquers all.
All the others, I could dump under the categories of LUST, CRUSHES, FUN, FLIRTS, AFFAIRS, PHASES, REBOUNDS, TAKE AWAYS, HAPPY MEALS, ITCHINESS, etc.
But still, I do not know what true LOVE is.
Is it really a battlefield, where one emerges a victor or a loser. Is it an eternal grail that you seek and could never find?
Participants of the annual Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Parade march down 5th Avenue, Sunday, June 25, 2006, in New York. This year the parade motto is The Fight for Love and Life. (AP Photo)
If love indeed is an eternal quest, the following poem I chose as my guide me, and hopefully it does.
Kahlil Gibran on Love
When love beckons to you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you.
Even as he is for your growth so is he 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 in their clinging to the earth.
Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred 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 would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient 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 love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these 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.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate 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.
Participants of the annual Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Parade march down 5th Avenue, Sunday, June 25, 2006, in New York. This year the parade motto is The Fight for Love and Life. (AP Photo)
If love indeed is an eternal quest, the following poem I chose as my guide me, and hopefully it does.
Kahlil Gibran on Love
When love beckons to you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you.
Even as he is for your growth so is he 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 in their clinging to the earth.
Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred 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 would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient 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 love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these 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.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate 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.
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7 comments:
Thank you for that poem. It said a lot. I too do not know for sure what love is. I think there is lots of kinds of it. I think also it is like a river that winds, that rushes, that lies still, that erodes, that nourishes, that can destroy, that can give life, is there for pure beauty, is there for sustenance - I'm not sure either.
nobody know what love really is, we manage to learn a bit or two about it as we move on our way... :)
happy meal??
love... hmmm... it's something that is until now cannot really be defined. but i like the poem. kahlil gibran is really a wise and good writer :)
love, love, love. men have killed, died, and lived for it.
love, i guess, just cannot be defined, and is not a quest. it's something we'll have to experience and it comes in many forms. we are all capable of loving...loving God, our family, our pets, our neighbor, our friend/s, the stranger we regularly meet on the station...
in the end, i guess, love is all that matters.
Well Jase, I think that in one way or the other, all of us has experienced the pitfalls of falling in love, being rejected or rejecting the intentions of another. Love is a journey. You wouldn't really know what is on the other side or where it will lead you but you have to cross it to be able to see what's out there. So you struggle for it, you give it your best shot and expect nothing in return... but love will have it's rewards.
When it comes to love, I dont think any of us can be considered experts. Not even the ones that call themselves, "professionals."
It's just something that you cant really describe. You just go out there and experience it for yourself, you know?
But when it comes to love, I believe that there are those kind of loves that open you up to something new and exotic and those that are old and familiar.
There are kinds of love that bring up lots of questions and those that bring you somewhere unexpected.
There are kinds of love that bring you far from where you started, and those that bring you back.
But the most exciting, challenging and significant love of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you can find someone to love the you you love, well, that's the one person you gotta fight for!
Love is a very heavy word.
The sentimental in me shouts that loev should only be the reason for living but my head insists that love is a decision and not just a feeling.
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