And if you would know God
be not a solver of riddles.
Rather look about you and you shall see Him
playing with your children.
And look into space; you shall see Him
walking in the clouds,
outstretching His arms in the lightning
and descending in rain.
You shall see Him smiling in flowers,
then rising and waving His hands in trees.

Kahlil Gibran (1883 – 1931) was a Lebanese artist, poet and writer who with his family immigrated to the United States. His romantic style was at the heart of a renaissance in modern Arabic literature and in Lebanon he is celebrated as a literary hero. His most famous book in the English-speaking world, The Prophet, has never been out of print and he is the 3rd best-selling poet of all time, behind Shakespeare and Lao Tzu.

 

I have to admit I was astonished to learn that Gibran is the 3rd best-selling poet of all time and yet, through the years I have heard many people say that “The Prophet” is one of their favorite and influential books. It poetry is so accessible and its wisdom so simple yet profound.

 
In today’s passage I love the picture he presents of God, joyful, playful, childlike, innocent. It is the God of our childhood when everything was alive and possible, the time before we prized thinking over feeling. Its tone reminds me of Krishna and the milkmaids – very human, very much of the earth, very willing.

 
It seems everyone has a favorite passage from Gibran – here are a few of mine:

 
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.

 

Work is love made visible.

 

Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.

 

What are your favorites?