Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Joy and Sorrow


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 often times 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 you 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 you board, remember
that the other is asleep upon you bed.

Verily you are suspended like scales between you sorrow and your joy.
Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.
When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weight his gold and his silver, needs
must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.
(from "The Prophet" By Kahlil Gibran)

In memory of James Dean
he was 21 and murdered in town last saturday night in St. Peter Port

13 comments:

Rainbow dreams said...

sometimes words fail me, it's so hard to believe

mister tumnus said...

those words are true.

Rainbow dreams said...

mister t, I agree, they are.

I was meaning that I am at a loss for words

mister tumnus said...

oh no, i wasn't directing my comment at you RD! (dumb ol' internet-lack-of-intonation..!)

:)

thank god for the smiley!

Rainbow dreams said...

and I wasn't really thinking you were mr t :)
I read the post, but lost in my own thoughts didn't comment on the words, just on the situation.
Your comment made me realise perhaps I should have - thanks

urbanmonk said...

nice post

that has hit a spot today..

thanks mate

awareness said...

I had never thought about the interconnectiveness of joy and sorrow. You can't have one without the other.

The depth of how they make you feel is the same............

James Dean...........how tragic and senseless.

The Harbour of Ourselves said...

Jules - glad you liked it, Gb is the thinnest of places, aplace we are moulded bt grace not digma or guilt

RD & Mr T - sort it out! though at the end of the day I think you are both on the same side

mr monk, long time (sems it anyway) - have been meaning to write some comment on your posts as you seem to have one particularly provocative human who doesn't get what dialogue is!?

awareness, senseless is the word, its shook the whole community, yesterday an 18 year old (who was his friend) was arrested for his murder - guernsey is a small island where everybody knows everybody and things like this just don't happen here...maybe now they do

Nikita said...

I didn't know James, but I'd met him - he was the type of guy who'd give you a hug no matter who you were!
It saddens me to think that his murderer was my age.
love and peace to Guernsey and everyone in it. I do love this place but walking home from work at 11pm on Saturday things'll be different.

mister tumnus said...

oh god :(

i'm so confused...

The Harbour of Ourselves said...

join the club

mister tumnus said...

hmmm. a club for confused people. would anyone turn up at the right place?

The Harbour of Ourselves said...

good point, cheltenham race course does ok though every august bank holiday