LIFE and DEATH

You would know the secret of death;

But how shall you find it unless you seek it in life?

The owl whose night eyes are blind to daylight,

Cannot unveil the mystery of light.

If you yearn to see the spirit of death,

Open your heart wide to the wonder of life.

For life and death are one, even as a river and sea are one.

In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent,

Knowledge of the great beyond;

And like seeds dreaming ‘neath the snow,

Your heart dreams of spring.

Trust your dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.

Your fear of death is but the trembling subject,

Waiting to be honored by his king.

Is the subject not joyful beneath his trembling?

That he shall wear the mark of the king?

Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?

For what is it to die but to stand naked,

In the wind and melt into the sun?

And what is it to cease breathing,

But to free the breath from restless tides,

That it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?

Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you sing?

And when you have reached the mountain top,

Then you shall begin to climb!

And when the earth shall claim your limbs,

Then shall you truly dance.

(Inspired by Kahlil Gibran)

ROTMS