Joy and Sorrow

my husband carsten, kodak easyshare digital

"The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.

Is it not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven? And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?

When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.

When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight."

- Khalil Gibran

I read this excerpt from the book The Prophet by Khalil Gibran to my husband tonight. It felt like a revelation of sorts...for both of us.

How could we ever know pure joy without knowing pure sorrow?

If we had not experienced the wrenching hardships we both had in previous relationships, we may take for granted how absolutely amazing the relationship in our marriage is.

Perhaps we wouldn't be so jazzed about the creative companies we've both started if we had not worked in jobs where we were slaves to ideas we didn't believe in.

If we had not gone through this difficult journey of trying to conceive, perhaps we would take for granted the miraculous gift of creating a child together. Parenthood will be all the more sweet having been through this.

So the two are inseparable...from joy comes sorrow, from sorrow comes joy.

We reflected on these things together tonight. We hugged and felt grateful for being the clay in the potter's wheel...because we know with all the molding comes great beauty.