Disguised As The Bringer Of Pain And Limitations

I want to write of love tonight. I need to write of a love that goes beyond reason, beyond understanding. A love that can never be fulfilled in the arms of the beloved, can never be soothed by the precious hand that once reached out with such sweet offerings, a love that exists only in its purest form now and becomes the quest of Truth for the Light's sake. A love transformed into a way of being so rich and exotic that when it blooms its fragrance leaves me swooning with desire. Desire that can only be endured by reaching out to embrace a way of living beyond the past and before the future. Any other way would consume me with its passion, burn the skin from my hands and suck the breath from my lungs. No amount of rejection can alter this gift. It is mine to suffer through in ecstasy forever more.

It has been said that the greatest teacher, disguised as the bringer of pain and limitation, brings us into that final darkness beyond which we become aware of the Light within and recognize our true selves, but I believe Kahlil Gibran says what I am trying to say better than I ever could. The following are his words.

"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."