On Children

And a woman who held a babeagainst her bosom said, Speak to us ofChildren.

And he said:

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters ofLife’s longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you yet theybelong not to you.

You may give them your love but not yourthoughts,

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not theirsouls,

For their souls dwell in the house oftomorrow, which you cannot visit, noteven in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seeknot to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries withyesterday.

You are the bows from which yourchildren as living arrows are sentforth.

The archer sees the mark upon the pathof the infinite, and He bends you withHis might that His arrows may go swiftand far.

Let your bending in the Archer’s hand befor gladness;

For even as he loves the arrow thatflies, so He loves also the bow that isstable.