Children

[bran_sinnach]

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, 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.

[weebandrui]

This reminds me of my mom...

[Marcus]

I disagree with the the first paragraph because of these words:

They come through you but not from you

But enjoy the the paragraph that is in itallics.

[wren]

Marcus, I saw that as us being the vessels of their birth but not their owners.

[Marcus]

wren said:

Marcus, I saw that as us being the vessels of their birth but not their owners.

But he goes on to say that we are not their owners in the next sentence. When i read it i thought he meant that they are not part of you, and that you are merely what the child comes from.

[wren]

This raises an interesting question... if we are eternal souls merely walking in physical form in this lifetime, are parents simply the vessels of 'rebirth'? If you believe in reincarnation, how much of the physical and how much of your eternal being is 'of your parents'?

[Marcus]

But it is fact that you are created by the mixture of genes between your parents.

Im not sure what i believe with reincarnation. I believe after death our spirits return to the universal spirit that is mother nature/Anu. Then when a new life is born spirit is drawn from Anu to create this being.

You body and blood is that of your parents.....but perhaps the soul is different.

However we seem to inherit personalities of our parents. Sometimes we inherit their talents. Thats why i disagree with the statement that the parents are merely vessels of rebirth.