Spiritual Things Matter

_{Photograph by: K. Alan Lewis}

In youth we stand strong in our convictions
With passions and beliefs we hold so dear.
We stand solid firm in a warrior-like fashion
Declaring with strength the path that seems clear.

One day, though, we awaken
Only to notice a change has taken place.
We have grown a little older and we realize
That life and all its passions, are not so clear.

~Viola Jaynes

I Miss My Friend

I miss my friend when I see the silvery moon above.
I miss my friend when I hear the rain drops splatter.
I miss my friend when I see others embracing and laughing.
I miss my friend when I sit and simply ponder.

I miss my friend when my heart aches and is lonely.
I miss my friend when I think of summer’s July gone array.
I miss my friend when I long to heal our partings.
I miss my friend for the distance seems so far away.

~Viola Jaynes

I am a great admirer of Kahlil Gibran’s work. The wisdom and the depth in his writing is profound, beautiful, and moving. One of my all time favorite is out of his book, “The Prophet.” Today, I would like to share it with my dear readers. May it speak to you as tenderly as it always speaks to me. May love awaken us and teach us life’s most valuable secrets.

When love beckons to you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams
as the north wind lays waste the garden.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.

Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God’s sacred feast.

All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life’s heart.

But if in your fear you would seek only love’s peace and love’s pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love’s threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.

Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.

When you love you should not say,
“God is in my heart,” but rather, “I am in the heart of God.”
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it find you worthy, directs your course.

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart
and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love’s ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.

~Kahlil Gibran

Love -
I search for it always,
Yet, always it abides in me.
Love -
I look and long for it in humanity
Yet, it greets me each and every day.

Love -
The exquisite purity of God,
Infinite, immeasurable, without end.
It is so vast and profound that comprehension fails.
The apprehension of God fills all space
previously thought of empty, lonely and void.

Love -
Available to all
As it surrounds all
Encompasses all
Is All.

The Beauty of Love
Perfect in every way.
There are no traces of darkness.
Nor are there flaws.
Its rays of beauty shine forth,
Illuminating the soul.

Love -
I embrace You fully!
Love -
I am transformed as I behold Your Beauty!

Viola M. Jaynes
November 2007