Your Pain is the Breaking of the Shell

“Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.

Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.

And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy;

And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields.

And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.”

— Kahlil Gibran, 1923
Poet and writer

Keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life.

How has grief changed your spirituality?

What does Quaker faith and spirituality offer you in the face of pain?

Banner image: Richard Brown Lethem
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Author

Kahlil Gibran

Gibran Khalil Gibran (1883 – 1931), usually referred to in English as Kahlil Gibran, was a Lebanese-American writer, poet and visual artist; he was also considered a philosopher, although he himself rejected the title. He is best known as the author of The Prophet, which was first published in the United States in 1923 and has since become one of the best-selling books of all time, having been translated into more than 100 languages.
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