As we begin a new day, I invite you to savour the poem “On Self-Knowledge” by Kahlil Gibran from the book “The Prophet.”
Your hearts know in silence the secrets of the days and the nights.
But your ears thirst for the sound of your heart’s knowledge.
You would know in words that which you have always known in thought.
You would touch with your fingers the naked body of your dreams.
And it is well you should.
The hidden well-spring of your soul must needs rise and run murmuring to the sea;
And the treasure of your infinite depths would be revealed to your eyes.
But let there be no scales to weigh your unknown treasure;
And seek not the depths of your knowledge with staff or sounding line.
For self is a sea boundless and measureless.
Say not, “I have found the truth,” but rather, “I have found a truth.”
Say not, “I have found the path of the soul.” Say rather, “I have met the soul walking upon my path.”
For the soul walks upon all paths.
The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed.
The soul unfolds itself like a lotus of countless petals.
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As we walk the (un)common path of life,
grounded in the Holy Mystery that is the source of our being,
May we learn to roam outside the lines
we draw around ourselves
when we limit our imagination
to one path, one possibility, one vision.
One in the Spirit, Divine love enfleshed;
we are far greater than we know.
Amen.
