On Children

At my labor prep 1/1 class last Friday, my instructor included the following poem in my packet of material. My first thought was, "Wow, I want to send this to our parents!" My second thought was, "Wow, I hope to live into this as a parent." Enjoy...

On Children

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 bows 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

so that the 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.

- from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran