Brad Walton writes poetry (mostly in prose format) that beautifully describes how our experiences and awarenesses through the heart inform and enlighten our lives. The poem that gives this book its title is my favorite.
We embrace love's pain because it is also the true experience of love and the lover. By the time our heart is aware of love's transforming power, it has already been captured by love's essence; it is destined to know its unmistakable thorn. This is love's redemptive cost. To run from or deny it is to deny our hearts the beauty of love itself. We cannot live without love, but the pain of true love is inevitable. We are called to honor and complete that which we have longed for--love.
Our fear of the thorns should not keep us from the rose. There is no way around the pain of loving and being loved. I, like the thorn bird, impale myself on the very thing I cannot live without; to live without it, I stop living. How can I look into the mirror and forget the eyes that embrace my soul? How do I run from my own soul and the kiss that it has felt?
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