Garry at www.rivendellreflections.wordpress.com left a comment about the "unknown" quote I put up yesterday. Here's Garry's comment and the quote again:
"the quote is from the Greek poet, Aeschylus, Connie and I know that because Bobby Kennedy used this quote in 1968 on the night he announced to a crowd of supporters that Martin Luther King had been assassinated.
Referring to the pain he and his family had also experienced at the hands of an assassin, Kennedy called on the near-hysterical crowd that night to put aside hate and vengeance and to embrace the call to peace and human dignity of Dr. King. He spoke without notes, quoting his 'favourite poet' Aeschylus, having had no time to prepare a speech because it had all just happened hours earlier.
He had never gotton over his big brother's death, and was dead himself a couple of months later."
The quote:
Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget, falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awesome grace of God.
They are such beautiful words. One wonders what pain the poet experienced to produce these thoughts - but then, we all, at one time or another experience such pain. When pain like this drops on the heart, slowly, almost without mercy, it is tempting to believe that the pain will never end and the heart will turn to stone. These words not only emphasize God's amazing love in taking these drops and infusing them with his grace, but the complex world we live in; where through pain and suffering, we can and do experience his wisdom and grace.
