Rereading "The Prophet"

My wife and I have been recently cleaning out our basement. Some boxes have not been packed since our last move 12 years ago. Can anyone relate to this? I'm sure many of you can. One enjoyable part of such mundane cleaning is finding the items that you forgot all about, the discovery, "I thought I lost this." As I was unpacking a box labeled "CASSETTES, FOLDERS AND PICTURE FRAMES," I found at the bottom of the box a brand new copy of "The Prophet." Though it was 14 years since our wedding, the book looked totally untouched, as if it had been preserved perfectly in the box. The stranger part, it was the week of our wedding anniversary, June 18th.

"The Prophet" is a book I bought for my Aunt Jean a few months before she died. As I discussed the book with Jean I felt an immediate connection with her. Yes, spirituality can connect people, and that is proof for me. My mother would quote for me the passages on marriage, saying that we need to respect each other's individuality as well as stressing the connections. So, if it rains again this weekend(and hopefully does not flood), take time to find a copy of "The Prophet." It will be well worth your time.

Here are some of my favorite quotes:

"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." (Chapter 2)

"Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music." (Chapter 3)

"You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give." (Chapter 5)

"Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy." (Chapter 7)

"Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding." (Chapter 16)

"No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge." (Chapter 18)

"You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts; And when you can no longer dwell in the solitude of your heart you live in your lips, and sound is a diversion and a pastime." (Chapter 20)

"...the timeless in you is aware of life's timelessness, And knows that yesterday is but to-day's memory and to-morrow is to-day's dream." (Chapter 21)

"Your daily life is your temple and your religion." (Chapter 26)

"And if you would know God, be not therefore a solver of riddles. Rather look about you and you shall see Him playing with your children." (Chapter 26)

"In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond..." (Chapter 27)

Other notes:

I think it is completely rediculous that some people in the midwest this week are praying for gas prices. If there is a God, he/she doesn't care about consumption of gas. Let's get real here.

Also, I have been reading "Affirmations" by Paul Kurtz this month. What a great group of ideas. Kurtz is basically saying that we can build a moral culture even without the many rules that organized religion requires. He infers that perhaps we can be more ethical without this delusion of God. Food for thought. Hopefully this book will get people talking. Why are we so afraid to talk about religion or politics in public?