Freedom From the Shackle
Once in mid-reach I inquired of my hand,
"Friend, what moves you in that direction?
What hope do you expect to fulfill?"
And an answer came to my mind
A voice I heard within said, "It is freedom
from the shackle that is the root of all
desire."
Gibran wrote on December 19, 1912: "I believe, Mary, that the future will not be unkind to my work. I will not be able to interest those who worship old gods, follow old thoughts, and live with old desires. But, there are people who could be free from all the chains of Yesterday; those who are capable of living in this Now are rather few, but they are the most powerful."
The shackle of yesterday that Gibran and Hafiz speak about is something that plagues us all from time to time. How do we stop worrying and looking at life through the eye's of our past mistakes, realized misfortunes, and unanswered yearnings? To walk onward we must desire the freedom of a life lived "in the now". Gibran recognizes that his work reflects a man who is doing things differently, who is unencumbered by the chains of the common man's thoughts. For this, he knows not everyone in his time will accept his work, but has faith that the future will look upon it more kindly.
That same week, on Christmas Day, Mary Haskell penned these words in her journal: "Kahlil came last night, and I looked at him...he is so deeply electrifying - mobile, like flame."
Once in mid-reach I inquired of my hand,
"Friend, what moves you in that direction?
What hope do you expect to fulfill?"
And an answer came to my mind
A voice I heard within said, "It is freedom
from the shackle that is the root of all
desire."
Gibran wrote on December 19, 1912: "I believe, Mary, that the future will not be unkind to my work. I will not be able to interest those who worship old gods, follow old thoughts, and live with old desires. But, there are people who could be free from all the chains of Yesterday; those who are capable of living in this Now are rather few, but they are the most powerful."
The shackle of yesterday that Gibran and Hafiz speak about is something that plagues us all from time to time. How do we stop worrying and looking at life through the eye's of our past mistakes, realized misfortunes, and unanswered yearnings? To walk onward we must desire the freedom of a life lived "in the now". Gibran recognizes that his work reflects a man who is doing things differently, who is unencumbered by the chains of the common man's thoughts. For this, he knows not everyone in his time will accept his work, but has faith that the future will look upon it more kindly.
That same week, on Christmas Day, Mary Haskell penned these words in her journal: "Kahlil came last night, and I looked at him...he is so deeply electrifying - mobile, like flame."
Life Is A Flame, Gibran
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