Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Wisdom from Kahil Gibran

“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?”

Kahil Gibran

Approaching the holiday season seems to bring into sharp focus those important people no longer present in our lives, our failures or our hurt feelings. There are many legitimate motivations for feeling sorrow.

It is helpful to remember this brilliant poet and teacher’s counsel and realize that by fully experiencing our sorrow and putting it in the context of something valuable, we can get stronger and more effective.

Your thoughts are welcome, in fact solicited.

With love and respect,

Robert

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hurt someone I loved this year with my words, and that hurt me deeply even more that I would damage someone I loved,and it took much more to undo that damage. That I got him back caused me profound gratitude and I have since found greater depths of love for his graciousness in forgiving my pettiness, smallness and selfishness. This is what I get from the quote...being forgiven for our trespasses. I need to forgive myself for my trespasses. There are parts of me that will always be capable of pettiness, anger and jealousy. I just need to keep on developing better, braver, bigger, finer, more courageous parts whose voices are heard more often by those I love, including me.

Lucille said...

Great quote! Well done!