LOVE
Then said Almitra, "Speak to us of Love."
And he raised his head and looked upon the people, and there fell a
stillness upon them. And with a great voice he said: When love
beckons to you, follow him, Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him, Though the sword
hidden among his pinions may wound you. And when he speaks to
you believe in him, Though his voice may shatter your dreams as
the north wind lays waste the garden.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is
for your growth so is he for your pruning. Even as he ascends to
your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the
sun, So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their
clinging to the earth. Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto
himself. He threshes you to make you naked. He sifts you to free
you from your husks. He grinds you to whiteness. He kneads you
until you are pliant; And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that
you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.
All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the
secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of
Life's heart.
But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's
pleasure, Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness
and pass out of love's threshing-floor, Into the seasonless world
where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but
not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself. Love
possesses not nor would it be possessed; For love is sufficient unto
love.
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When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but
rather, "I am in the heart of God." And think not you can direct the
course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself. But if you love and
must needs have desires, let these be your desires: To melt and be
like a running brook that sings its melody to the night. To know the
pain of too much tenderness. To be wounded by your own
understanding of love; And to bleed willingly and joyfully. To
wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day
of loving; To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy; To
return home at eventide with gratitude; And then to sleep with a
prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your
lips.
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MARRIAGE
Then Almitra spoke again and said, "And what of Marriage,
master?"
And he answered saying: You were born together, and together
you shall be for evermore. You shall be together when the white
wings of death scatter your days. Aye, you shall be together even
in the silent memory of God. But let there be spaces in your
togetherness. And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
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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CHILDREN
And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, "Speak to
us of Children."
And he said: Your children are not your children. They are the
sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through
you but not from you, And though they are with you yet they
belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts, For they have
their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of to-morrow, which you cannot
visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but
seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor
tarries with yesterday. You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He
bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the Archer's hand be for gladness; For even as
He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is
stable.
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GIVING
Then said a rich man, "Speak to us of Giving."
And he answered: You give but little when you give of your
possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. For
what are your possessions but things you keep and guard for fear
you may need them to morrow? And to-morrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the ovcr-prudent dog burying bones in the track
less sand as he follows the pilgrims to the holy city? And what is
fear of need but need itself? Is not dread of thirst when your well is
full, the thirst that is unquenchable? There are those who give little
of the much which they have-and they give it for recognition and
their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome. And there are
those who have little and give it all. These are the believers in life
and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never empty.
There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.
And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their
baptism. And there are those who give and know not pain in
giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue;
They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into
space. Through the hands of such as these God speaks, and from
behind their eyes He smiles Upon the earth.
It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked,
through understanding; And to the open-handed the search for one
who shall receive is joy greater than giving. And is there aught you
would withhold? All you have shall some day be given; Therefore
give now, that the season of giving may be yours and not your
inheritors'.
You often say, "I would give, but only to the deserving." The trees
in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture. They
give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish. Surely he who
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is worthy to receive his days and his nights is worthy of all else
from you. And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life
deserves to fill his cup from your little stream. And what desert
greater shall there be, than that which lies in the courage and the
confidence, nay the charity, of receiving? And who are you that
men should rend their bosom and unveil their pride, that you may
see their worth naked and their pride unabashed? See first that you
yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving. For in
truth it is life that gives unto life-while you, who deem yourself a
giver, are but a witness.
And you receivers-and you are all receivers- assume no weight of
gratitude, lest you lay a yoke upon yourself and upon him who
gives. Rather rise together with the giver on his gifts as on wings;
For to be overmindful of your debt is to doubt his generosity who
has the free-hearted earth for mother, and God for father.
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REASON AND PASSION
And the priestess spoke again and said:
"Speak to us of Reason and Passion."
And he answered, saying: Your soul is oftentimes a battlefield,
upon which your reason and your judgment wage war against your
passion and your appetite. Would that I could be the peacemaker in
your soul, that I might turn the discord and the rivalry of your
elements into oneness and melody. But how shall I, unless you
yourselves be also the peacemakers, nay, the lovers of all your
elements?
Your reason and your passion are the rudder and the sails of your
seafaring soul. If either your sails or your rudder be broken, you
can but toss and drift, or else be held at a standstill in mid-seas. For
reason, ruling alone, is a force confining; and passion, unattended,
is a flame that burns to its own destruction. Therefore let your soul
exalt your reason to the height of passion, that it may sing;
And let it direct your passion with reason, that your passion may
live through its own daily resurrection, and like the phoenix rise
above its own ashes.
I would have you consider your judgment and your appetite even
as you would two loved guests m your house. Surely you would
not honour one guest above the other; for he who is more mindful
of one loses the love and the faith of both. Among the hills, when
you sit in the cool shade of the white poplars, sharing the peace
and serenity of distant fields and meadows-then let your heart say
in silence, "God rests in reason." And when the storm comes, and
the mighty wind shakes the forest, and thunder and lightning
proclaim the majesty of the sky,-then let your heart say in awe,
"God moves in passion." And since you are a breath in God's
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sphere, and a leaf in God's forest, you too should rest in reason and
move in passion.
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FRIENDSHIP
And a youth said, "Speak to us of Friendship."
And he answered, saying: Your friend is your needs answered. He
is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.
And he is your board and your fireside. For you come to him with
your hunger, and you seek him for peace.
When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the "nay" in your
own mind, nor do you with hold the "aye." And when he is silent
your heart ceases not to listen to his heart; For without words, in
friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and
shared, with joy that is unclaimed. When you part from your
friend, you grieve not; For that which you love most in him may be
clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer
from the plain.
And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the
spirit. For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own
mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is
caught.
And let your best be for your friend. If he must know the ebb of
your tide, let him know its flood also. For what is your friend that
you should seek him with hours to kill? Seek him always with
hours to live. For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness.
And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and
sharing of pleasures.
For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is
refreshed.
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Skills: In this assignment we will practice some of the skills that are essential to
college writing, and also that are specific to our work in CORE 100. These
include:
Articulating the same concept through different perspectives
Detecting and analyzing theses in different kinds of sources
Critical reading, writing, and thinking
Knowledge: The assignment will show how well you are familiar with:
One of the four loves we have discussed
Distinguishing kinds of sources
Relating external sources to a theme we have discussed in class
Citation in the MLA style
Task: write an essay of 1500 words in which you pick one reading from our class (not
from Lewis' The Four Loves) and discuss its main points in detail. Then find three other
sources about the same kind of love. Show how the view of the love in question is similar
to or different from the reading we had for class. You should have at least one scholarly
source, bne popular source and the remaining source is your choice.
up to you
A good procedure for writing this essay is to:
Figure out which reading from class you will use
Find three other sources from library databases
Draw up an outline that includes all your sources
Upload the finished product to Moodle
Criteria for Success: A well-written paper will demonstrate familiarity with all sources
and show their interrelation by focusing on the kind of love in question. You should
quote from each source and cite it properly. A good paper will be clear, precise, and give
adequate and detailed analysis of each source.
Purchase answer to see full
attachment