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No Other Desire
Kahlil Gibran
Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires,
let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook
that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love:
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks
for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate on love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved
in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.
Source: On Love
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VALENTINE'S DAY
No one really knows who St. Valentine's day was named after. There were three St. Valentines known to exist in the past. In 496 A.D. Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 to honor one St. Valentine. A later pope took away Valentine's sainthood.
I'll let St. Valentine tell his own story:
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Valentine. I lived in Rome during the third century, That was long, long ago! At that time Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius. I didn't like Emperor Claudius, and I wasn't the only one! A lot of people shared my feelings.
"Claudius wanted to have a big army. He expected men to volunteer to join. Many men just did not want to fight in wars. They did not want to leave their wives and families. As you might have guessed, not many men signed up. This made Claudius furious. So what happened? He had a crazy idea. He thought that if men were not married, they would not mind joining his army. So Claudius decided not to allow any more marriages. Young people thought his idea was cruel. I thought it was preposterous!
"Did I mention that I was a priest? One of my favorite activities was to marry couples. Even after Emperor Claudius passed his law, I kept on performing marriage ceremonies – secretly, of course. It was really quite exciting. Imagine a small candle lit room with only the bride and groom and myself. We would whisper the words of the ceremony, listening all the while for the steps of soldiers.
"One night, we did hear footsteps. It was scary! Thank goodness the couple I was marrying escaped in time. I was caught. (Not quite as light on my feet as I used to be, I guess.) I was thrown in jail and told that my punishment was death.
"I tried to stay cheerful. And do you know what? Wonderful things happened. Many young people came to the jail to visit me. They threw flowers and notes up to my widow. They wanted me to know that they, too, believed in love.
"One of these young people was the daughter of the prison guard. Her father allowed her to visit me in the cell. Sometimes we would sit and talk for hours. She helped me to keep my spirits up. She agreed that I did the right thing by ignoring the Emperor and going ahead with the secret marriages. On the day I was to die, I left my friend a little note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty, I signed it. "Love from your Valentine."
"I believe that note started the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine's Day. It was written on the day I died, February 14, 269 A.D. Now, every year on this day, people remember. But most importantly, they think about love and friendship. And when they think of Emperor Claudius, they remember how he tried to stand in the way of love, and they laugh – because they know that love can't be beaten! "
Valentine's story taken from the web
Thanks to Patricia Olmusk
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