K.G.'s "The Prophet"

Ok, I'd like to start out by saying that I don't want to bring you Guys down, this blog isn't going to be all about death and sadness. If anything, it'll be more about life and joy. Glass half full sort of stuff. Like you know, we often get it wrong. When someone dies we selfishly cling on and mourn their loss. Not that I'm saying it's easy to let go, God knows, it's one of the hardest things to do. We grow up and learn to hold on, to possess, to cling to whatever and whoever we can in order to feel secure and to give our lives some meaning. We find it hard to let go of things. If people move away, if we get a new job, a new house, whatever, it's never easy, but it is often good in the long run. We fear the unknown. We have come to define ourselves, to regulate our being, to arrange ourselves around a certain way of life with certain things, certain people and certain rules. When one of the major factors changes, we know that it will change us, and we fear that, it uproots us. But it gives us a chance to start afresh, be born again, if you like, to recreate ourselves. People, of course, are the hardest things to let go of, for what do we define ourselves by more than the people we surround ourselves with?
Back to the point though, we should not mourn a death, for then we mourn our loss. We should celebrate a life. We should give that one we love and have lost a good send off, try and be happy for them and wish them well on their next big adventure. And we should celebrate the privilege of having had that wonderful person in our lives, no matter how short a time it may have been for. Moreover, we should celebrate our lives. If you think about it, in sheer mathematical terms, being alive is amazing. How many millions of sperm compete to fertilize how many eggs? And we made it. Sure, if it was a different one of those little swimmers, it would still have been one of Dad's, and one of Mum's eggs, but the circumstances would have been different, we would have been different. So if we achieve nothing else in life, we achieved that. Quite a feat hey?! And also, the mathematics of this universe, this world, of everything coming together the way it has? Nothing short of bloody amazing!
Anyway, I didn't post tonight to give you my words, but those of someone far more eloquent. For those of you unfamiliar with the work, it is called"The Prophet", and was written by Kahlil Gibran. It is a fantastic little book, and one which I turn to again and again for inspiration and an aid to understanding. Even years on, the more I read it, the more it means to me, the more it grows on me. And what with it being somewhat the theme of the week, I thought I'd share his thoughts on Death with you all. Enjoy.


"On 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 sheperd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honour.
Is the sheperd 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."



Beautiful, hope you enjoyed it. I love you Guys xxxxxx