Self-knowledge

Kahil Gibran-The Prophet
"And a man said, Speak to us of Self-Knowledge.
And he answered saying:
Your hearts know in silence the secrets of the days and the nights.
But your ears thirst for the sound of your heart's knowledge.
You would know in words that which you have always known in thought.
You would touch with your fingers the naked body of your dreams.

And it is well you should.
The hidden well-spring of your soul must needs rise and run murmuring to the sea;
And the treasure of your infinite depths would be revealed to your eyes.
But let there be no scales to weigh your unknown treasure;
And seek not the depths of your knowledge with staff or sounding line.
For self is a sea boundless and measureless.

Say not, "I have found the truth," but rather, "I have found a truth."
Say not, "I have found the path of the soul." Say rather, "I have met the soul walking upon my path."
For the soul walks upon all paths.
The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed.
The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals."

The prayer of Examen can be thought of in a fairly clinical way-looking back over the day's events, reflecting on our behavior, making intentional the unintentional or unreflective choices that dominate our lives, asking again and again, is this the right choice?

But it is also useful, I think, to reflect on our lives in a more musical kind of way, praying with joy and sadness the complicated interweaving that is our reality, acknowledging that everything we do is filled with multiple mixed motives, that we are logical, emotional, instinctive creatures of grace, and that we can read our days in a host of different ways.

image from http://undertheeyelids.blogspot.com/2009/10/but-above-all-know-thyself.html