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 yet 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
that His arrows 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.[/quote]
I really like the last line of that, something that some parents don’t really understand. Children don’t need their parents to be their friend, though the child may want it. It is better for the parent to be the rock that will weather a child’s storms and be there when the child needs someone to hold tight to when they have their own storms to weather. To be there without prejudice on the child’s decisions, giving honest opinion without derision, honest guidance without seeking control.
The first part almost seems to be similar in message to “The Desiderata”. ie.
You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
