The breaking of the shell

One dear soul on our current co-counselling course quoted a line from The Prophet in last week's session - and when I came in this morning to teach day three of the course, somebody had stuck the quote on the wall. It really spoke to me today, so I thought I'd reprint the full passage:'Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.'Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.'And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy;'And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields.'And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.'Much of your pain is self-chosen. It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self.'Therefore, trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquility:'For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen,'And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own sacred tears.'<3