Happy Valentine's Day

I wish everyone an enjoyable Valentine's Day with their special loved one, friends, and family members. It is a good day to let those you love know how much they are valued and appreciated.

Yesterday, I wrote about peace. Today, I am going to write about peace again because this day is dedicated to love. Love is necessary for there to be peace and peace is necessary for love to exist. If we want to live in peace on this planet we must learn to recognize in others: sameness, and love and value their differences as well.

The love relationship between two adults was beautifully described by Lebanese poet, philosopher, and artist Kahlil Gibran in "The Prophet" (1923). My husband of twenty-six years and I chose the following words as our wedding vows;

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.

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Another favorite bit of poetry of mine is John Lennon's "Imagine" in which he calls for love on a universal level. "Imagine" asks us to set aside all of the hypocritical, distorted barriers that have been raised against love and peace. In "Imagine" Lennon dreams of a world in which we all share a peaceful living experience by practicing tolerance and caring for one another. He dreams of a world where "US" and "THEM" flow into ONE.

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one.

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.....Hearts and Flowers and Hugs to all.....
...........Kitchen Window Woman..............