Tình yêu On love

On love

Then said Almitra, Speak to us of Love.
And he raised his head and looked upon the people
and there fell a stillness upon them
And with a great voice he said:
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.

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.