On Joy and Sorrow

On Joy and Sorrow
from
The Prophet
by Khalil Gibran

Then a woman said, Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow.
And he answered:
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.
Some of you say, “Joy is greater than sorrow,” and others say, “Nay, sorrow is the greater.”
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.


Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.
Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.
When the reassure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver, needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.

"Their Voices Bounce Off Mirrors"

Their voices
Bounce off mirrors
Sachet through shearings
Leap to lightning rods and
Spiral there like gymnasts
Exuberant and free.

Their chant is to him

Robed, they perform their
Rituals at basins and mirrors
Chattering holiness like ancient
Priestesses in temples at rivertide
Touched and touched
Cleansed and guided
Touched and touched
They become beautified.

Their chant is of him

And should a child enter there
She is accepted as a holy thing. Mooring her innocence
Among the mirrors, They reach to her
As a Princess reached
For a babe in the Nile

Their chant is by him

And when they conclude their observance
They depart from the sanctum of ease
And return to him
To whom they are wed
By whom they are led
Through whom they are said
Beloved and Beloved

In his image they are created.

- Kristine Barrett


"The author of this poem, Kristine Barrett, was shocked to find that I thought
the poem was about temple rites. I was shocked to discover that she had, in
fact, written the poem after a visit to a beauty salon. Reading through the
poem again, I saw the similarities—that the rites of becoming beautiful,
inside or out, were directed toward the approval of a beloved lord, human or
divine. Most jarring in that haunting imagery of women's voices and hands,
the basins and mirrors, is that the final reflected image is male."
- Linda Sillitoe
(from here)

But Thou Art All Replete With Very Thou

Indwelling

If thou couldst empty all thyself of self,
Like to a shell dishabited,
Then might He find thee on the Ocean shelf,
And say—" This is not dead,"—
And fill thee with Himself instead. 
But thou art all replete with very thou,
And hast such shrewd activity,
That, when He comes, He says :—" This is enow
Unto itself—’Twere better let it be:
It is so small and full, there is no room for Me."

- T.E. Brown

Our Greatest Fear..."

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?" Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

-Maryanne Willamson