Khalil Gibran on Pain

I thought this poem so beautiful that it was very much worth sharing here.

Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses
your understanding.

Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that it's
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 wonderous 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.