Peace and Pandemonium

Once again, I'm posting an excerpt from "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran. I'm telling you, this book never ceases to amaze me.

I have been given the opportunity, if you want to call it that, to give a talk in church this Sunday. I honestly cant even remember the last time I spoke in church. A prayer here and there but an actual lesson where people are listening to me and expecting to learn something? It has been well over a decade. I am determined not to make a total fool of myself so with that in mind I have set out to prepare ahead of time and to avoid procrastination. My fingers are crossed here! I am fully aware that these kinds of talks mostly benefit the one who has taken the time to prepare it and I am so thankful for the opportunity to learn a few things. I need at least that. I know I will be nervous when the time comes, public speaking has never really been my forte. I'm trying not to think that far in advance. I always feel that I should be the one listening and learning from others, not the one teaching. That is why I am trying to psyche myself up by reading from one of my favorite books, The Prophet. I'm going to remember that I wont really be teaching, instead I'll be reminding people of things they already know. That takes some of the pressure off. Lord help me!


Then said a teacher, "Speak to us of Teaching."

And he said:

No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of our knowledge.

The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness.

If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.

The astronomer may speak to you of his understanding of space, but he cannot give you his understanding.

The musician may sing to you of the rhythm which is in all space, but he cannot give you the ear which arrests the rhythm nor the voice that echoes it.

And he who is versed in the science of numbers can tell of the regions of weight and measure, but he cannot conduct you thither.

For the vision of one man lends not its wings to another man.

And even as each one of you stands alone in God's knowledge, so must each one of you be alone in his knowledge of God and in his understanding of the earth