A Fragment of Life's Heart

Once again time has slipped away among the doings of life, and yet I am called back here to make another record of its lessons. I am full of so much to write about, yet just as each fruit has its harvest season, so will each thought come to rest on this page in its turn.

Tonight's topic is Love.

As someone in the midst of single dating life, I find myself in an interesting place. My heart was made to love deeply, and at times it feels like I'm waiting . . . waiting for the time when I will love deeply again. Yet I am also in a unique position to catch a glimpse of loving--madly, deeply--many different men. I am in a place where I can freely admire, and am very aware of, the various charms of men all around me. I have the chance to spend time with men of different ages, backgrounds, educations, philosophies, and personalities. While certainly most of these encounters will not result in romance, there is yet so much to admire. There is so much divinity in all of us, and any time we spend with another, as a friend or otherwise, is a gift; an opportunity to glimpse and share that divinity. In the dating life we approach each other with a different set of hopes and usually a higher level of vulnerability. That is truly a sacred trust.

Not all my experiences will make any list of the best dates of all time, and I could certainly get some mileage out of some of my stories. I know there will be more times that I unload to a friend (or several of them) when things don't go as hoped. Dating can sometimes feel like one failure after another until you strike gold. I'm trying my best to approach it as that unique chance to get to know others, and not to put so much pressure on myself or the other person. I'm trying to remember to make a note of what I like in each man I date, even if I decline a second date. For what we dwell on is what we will attract into our lives.

The Universe sent me this note yesterday:

Never regret love. No matter how blind, it improved your world view. No matter how foolish, it made you wiser. And no matter how generous, it made you more.
Hubba, hubba,
The Universe
And while we're at it, never regret the second scoop - that one's always mine.

How true. How blessedly true. Thank you, Universe, for allowing me the chance to make myself greater through loving; for becoming a fragment of Life's heart. Thank you for the chance to meet these truly beautiful men.




On Love...
Kahlil Gibran

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 finds 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.