Number 11 of 52 Compelling Communicators: Kahlil Gibran
March 18, 2013
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| Kahlil Gibran, 1913 |
Kahlil Gibran was a popular
writer and poet among flower children in the 70’s. That was when I was introduced to his book, The
Prophet - and, yes, I wore a few daisy chain headbands. A Lebanese American who lived from 1883 to 1931, Gibran is the third
best-selling poet of all time, behind Shakespeare and Lao-Tzu.
To
this day, I find his words just as compelling as in the era of free love
and Mary Jane. I still give his writings on marriage to newlyweds as part of my
wedding gift. The
last two verses speak about the need to maintain individuality. Communication
like this is timeless.
His wise words about children ring true to me as well. He tells us they have their own journey to travel and it is not ours to control. Easy to say when you don’t have any kids but, as an Auntie to many of my sibs offspring, this is an important lesson.
Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loafSing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.And stand together yet not too near together:For the pillars of the temple stand apart,And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.
Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts, For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far. Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness; For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.
His use of analogies create the compelling story. Finding the right analogies is part of making messages resonate. They should glide off your lips or the page like butter on a hot knife. As
much as I love his flowery prose, one of my favourite Gibran quotes is:
The obvious is that which is never seen until someone expresses it simply.

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