In honor of Khalil Gibran's Birthday

It's the birthday of the author of the best-selling book in Alfred A. Knopf's publishing history: Khalil Gibran, (books by this author) born in the mountain village in Bsharri, Lebanon (1883). When Gibran was a boy, his mother decided to leave her alcoholic husband and take her four children to America. They settled in Boston, where they had relatives, and it was there that a charity worker noticed that Gibran appeared to be artistically gifted. Members of the aristocratic Boston society found him charming, and they began inviting him to social gatherings, where he discussed philosophy and poetry   
                                         On Children
 Kahlil Gibran
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.
        This is one of my favorite poems by Khalil Gibran, a framed copy of it comes with me where ever I have lived. So often, I have needed this reminder as a parent, as a person. We do not own our children's souls and thoughts,they come through us, not from us.We are only the bows that they as living arrows are sent forth in the world. We can only teach them to try to make good sound choices and live well and at peace and contentment within themselves  and with gratitude for who they are.