Then said Almitra, "Speak to us of Love."
And he raised his head
and looked upon the people, and there fell a stillness upon them. And with a
great voice he said:
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, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
Love has no other desire but to fulfil 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.
Then Almitra spoke again and said, "And what of Marriage, master?"
And he answered saying:
You were born together, and together you shall
be forevermore.
You shall be together when white wings of death scatter
your days.
Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of
God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of
the heavens dance between you.
Love one another but make not a bond of
love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your
bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be
joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are
alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not
into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your
hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near together:
For the pillars
of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in
each other's shadow.
Parents with Disabilities Online
The Night I Was Born
My Baptism
Diana Michelle's Baby Book
The Day I Helped Diane Get
Married...
Diana's Spring
Fling! (added May 28, 1999)
Halloween Costume Gallery (added
June 27, 1999)
© 1998 TrishDay@concentric.net