I have said that everyone should read Kahlil Gibran.  I even mentioned especially recommending The Prophet, as it is one of his most profound works.

I first read this book in 1984 with only a cursory review, but its content held fast to my mind and heart.  Later, in 1989, I returned for the first time to read again what was hidden among its pages.  It was through that second reading that I came to fully appreciate and comprehend Gibran's work.

While I have enjoyed his many other works, I return to The Prophet on a regular basis.  There is strength and guidance to be found among the pages, there is philosophy and religion, and there is enlightenment.  There are times when I read it wholly to remind me that life is not as complex as one would think.  There are times when I delve into its teachings so that I might grasp once again the most fundamental ideology for living.

Irrespective of why I return time and again, I always come away from the experience feeling renewed, feeling as though a great teacher has revealed yet another masterful secret of the universe.  Revelations of the heart, directives for the soul… It matters not how you describe this book; it only matters that you read it.

To celebrate The Prophet, I am starting a new series, one to be developed concurrently with “Creationism by any other name.”  This new serial, The Prophet, will be comprised entirely of my favorite excerpts from the book.  Don't expect a complete plagiarism of the text as many have come to find acceptable, but do expect a wide variety of quotes.  They will be those I believe are the most important, meaningful, provocative, and enlightening verses, but they will be excerpts only and not entire copies of Gibran's work.

All I ask is that you read them as I post them.  Only the most benighted among us will walk away having gained nothing.