Kahlil Gibran.

The first time I feel (not read) the words of Kahlil Gibran, a 19th century poet, was between several other prayer cards in a PRAYER box gift, something which I bought for myself because I was beginning to learn how to pray again at that time. (After a few days of having good company with the cards, I am now getting re-acquainted again to God.)

The poem that I read by Kahlil Gibran is titled MARRIAGE BLESSING. I hope readers feel relished and engrossed in his powerful and beautiful words below. I am reproducing his words in a scroll, frame it and presenting it as a gift to my brother-in-law and his future wife.

Kahlil Gibran's MARRIAGE BLESSING

Wedding
by: Kahlil Gibran (1883 - 1931)

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 hands of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together, but 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.