There
were these lines in a song by Olivia Newton –John that made me wonder about
love or should I say our concept of love (at least mine in any case!):
If you love me, let me know
If you don’t, let me go…
Do
we really love the ones for whom we proclaim our love at the drop of a hat?
Wife, children, friends, parents…… what an offensive thought!
But
then this question continues to haunt me. As I keep thinking about this, I
started to count the number of ‘bonds’ to which I have attached each of them in
order to ‘prove’ that I love them and they love me. There were innumerable
(unwritten) conditions that we both have to adjust to and accommodate as a test
of ever lasting love.
It
does not matter whether personal dreams and aspirations, not of the whimsical order,
but some of the calling of the heart, are to be sacrificed. After all, what is
love without sacrifice? The ‘suffering’ that may ensue is not a suffering. It
is the reward for your love! And I demand it in the name of love!
When
such thoughts were running wild on my mind, suddenly I was reminded of Khalil
Gibran and the meaning of those two lines flashed like a million volt bulb!
You
were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
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 loaf
Sing 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.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
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 loaf
Sing 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.
If
you love me, let me know
If
you don’t, let me go……
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