CHILDREN

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, 'Speak to us of Children.'

And he said:

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.

Children of Heaven

Let This Be Your Desires

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself
But if your love and must needs have desires,
Let these be your desires:

To melt and be like a running brook
That sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart
And give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer
For the beloved in your heart
And a song of praise upon your lips. 

Love