LIFE IN ABUNDANCE

Gen. 1: 6: “The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”

John 10: 10: “I have come that they may have life, and have it in abundance.”

Proverbs 4: 23: Guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life”

"Life is older than all things living;
even as beauty was winged ere the beautiful was born on earth,
and even as truth was truth ere it was uttered.
Life sings in our silences,
and dreams in our slumber.
Even when we are beaten and low,
Life is enthroned and high.
And when we weep,
Life smiles upon the day,
and is free even when we drag our chains.
Oftentimes we call Life bitter names,
but only when we ourselves are bitter and dark.
And we deem her empty and unprofitable,
but only when the soul goes wandering in desolate places,
and the heart is drunken with over-mindfulness of self. Life is deep and high and distant;
and though only your vast vision can reach even her feet,
yet she is near;
and though only the breath of your breath reaches her heart,
the shadow of your shadow crosses her face,
and the echo of your faintest cry becomes a spring and an autumn in her breast. And Life is veiled and hidden,
even as your greater self is hidden and veiled.
Yet when Life speaks,
all the winds become words;
and when she speaks again,
the smiles upon your lips and the tears in your eyes turn also into words.
When she sings,
the deaf hear and are held;
and when she comes walking,
the sightless behold her and are amazed and follow her in wonder and astonishment."

- Khalil Gibran

from ‘the Garden of the Prophet’