Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bow from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrow may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.
- Kahlil Gibran (excerpt from The Prophet)
I have always loved that part of The Prophet. Back in the 70's, I wrote it on piece of paper and made a decoupage on a wooden plaque for my parents. I think Grama still has it on her wall. :-)
ReplyDeleteMom, I found the excerpt in an old book of yours I found and read (and kept) some years ago (I was probably 22). The Road Less Traveled by Scott M. Peck. Do you remember that book?
DeleteVery cool, and how true. Trying to conceive, I try not to forget that our children choose us as their parents and their way to make their presence on earth, and it's less about us and more about the life that will remain here and grow and hopefully be smarter, healthier, stronger than we are.
ReplyDeleteThat's really beautiful, Mel.
DeleteReally beautiful.
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