<>:~+~:<>:~+~:<>:~+~:<>:~+~:<>:~+~:<>:~+~:<>:~+~:<>:~+~:<>:~+~:<>:~+~<> Love is reckless; not reason. Reason seeks a profit. Love comes on strong, consuming herself, unabashed. Yet, in the midst of suffereing, Love proceeds like a millstone, hard-surfaced and straightforward. Having died to self-interest, she risks everything and asks for nothing. Love gambles away every gift God bestows. Without cause God gave us Being; without cause, give it back again. Gambling yourself away is beyond religion. Religion seeks grace and favor, but those who gamble these away are God's favorites, for they neither put God to the test nor knock on the door of gain and loss. ---Jalaluddin Rumi, "Mathnawi" VI