Thursday, August 27, 2009

Death

I've been thinking a lot about death recently, trying to process a lot of things that are too maudlin to get into around here.

But it's what my mood is these days.

Here's a clip from top-selling album "The Prophet" by Lebanese sensation Khalil Gibran that I've found particularly helpful. Just thought I'd share it along...
Death
Then Almitra spoke, saying, "We would ask now of Death."

And he said:
You would know the secret of death.
But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?
The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light.
If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life.
For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.

In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond;
And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring.
Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.
Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honour.
Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king?
Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?

For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?
And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?

Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.
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5 comments:

  1. I love Kahlil Gibran! Thanks for sharing...

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  2. Love that. How the hell are ya, btw?

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  3. That is so. beautiful.

    I especially like that last stanza. Very cool!

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  4. Echele, nice to hear from you again. Hope everything's goining well for you. I'm in a bit of a funk right now, but I it won't be long before I'm out of this rut and back into the groove.

    Moxie and Faith, it's amazing how relevant Gibran is all these year's later. The test of true art.

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  5. You caught me by surprise. At our wedding, we used Gibran's "On Children" and "On Marriage". When my wife died, I read "On Death" at her funeral mass. Thanks

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