John Donne (1572-1631) - English Writer

I recently heard this following quote from the English writer, John Donne and want to share it as it is very beautiful.  I do not know the origin of the excerpt other than it was quoted as coming from “Poetry & Selected Prose of John Donne” — I do not know the volume or the work and have not yet researched it.  I quote it only as something that spoke to my spirit, not as an authenticated quote and for no other purpose than to catalogue it for future research.

“All mankind is one volume.  When one mand dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book but translated into a better language.  And, every chapter must be so translated.  God employs several translators.  Some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice.  But, God’s hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again for that library where every book shall be open to one another.”

I wait impatiently for that day.  For that day, when all makes sense, when one and all can look upon another with openness and kindness and love and acceptance…understanding the beginning and the end of our purpose in this life.

My sister said something to me yesterday that reminded me why I so enjoyed ‘84 Charing Cross Road’ — I’m not sure I remember exactly what she and I were talking about or exactly what her thought shared was.  It just triggered a spark within me…and it is this:  Perhaps, it’s not the answers to our questions that is as important as the recording of our questions and the happenstances we experience along this journey.  The thing we are searching for, I believe, lies in between the lines we read, in the spaces between our shared thoughts, fleeting like butterflies, hard to catch and maybe even dying when we do touch them.  Perhaps the answers to our questions are not meant to be ‘had’, to be contained, but, perhaps they are simply meant to be thought about, written about, shared with others, but left to be free on their own.

And, then again, maybe I know nothing at all.  LOL!  But, for some reason, it seems important to write it all down.