“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.”
Such a wise man. I read The Prophet early in my first marriage. I believe it was edifying for this novice husband. What I remember specifically is his advice on children (before any appeared in my life); it goes something like this: the parent is the bow and the child the arrow. The parent points the child in the preferred direction, but once the child is released the child will land where he or she will and the parent no longer has control.
Not much you can do, is there Ron, when they decide on bad paths to fly down…I read it in my mid teens when a family member brought it for me along with a Cat Steven’s album. I was very impressed, and thought myself terribly sophisticated.
Morning, Ron! It’s been all action out here in your beautiful city. I think I might need some more wise Mr. Gibran in my life.