Living Arrows Sent Forth

 Henri Cartier Bresson - Rue Mouffetard, 1954, ©MoMa.

My oldest son turned 35 today; two days ago he became a parent for the first time. I’m in love with a baby I’ve never met, and it’s a wonder-filled experience! Often, when I have too many things running around in my head, I turn to Kahlil Gibran. And he has guided me to peace today with this beautiful writing. I am grateful. Namaste…

“Your children are not your children.
They are 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...."

by Khalil Gibran

“When speaking of God's children, not the children of men, Jesus said, ‘The kingdom of God is within you;’ that is, Truth and Love reign in the real man, showing that man in God's image is unfallen and eternal." 

Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 476:28-32