Reflections: Speak To Us Of Children…
“If there is anything we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves.” Carl Jung
Reflections: Speak To Us Of Children… children at play
Children Chapter IV by Khalil Gibran
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, 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. Contd below
Children are a blessing. They come into our lives to teach us about surrender, patience, love, life, and to help us to grow. They remind us how to act from a place of grace and gratitude. When I became a mother, I finally understood the line my mom and other women in our household casually tossed our way when we misbehaved; “Wait till you have your own children…” Our children come with their own desires and dreams, and we do our bit, then watch with bated breath as they fly the coop… Taking our love and life lessons with them, we hope and pray. Since Gibran is on my mind, I offer this deeply moving poem on children from his writings. I divided the poem into two parts. The rest is below. 😉
“If we wish to create a lasting peace, we must begin with the children.” Mahatma Gandhi
Reflections: Speak To Us Of Children… Child in charge
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 hands be for happiness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
So He loves the bow that is stable.
Children are terrific imitators of adult behavior and they have huge memories. They observe the way we live and either model it or abhor it… They often speak the truth unless they have been silenced by adults who prefer to hide behind lies… We can learn from the innocent spirit of children or miss an opportunity for authentic growth.
What are your thoughts? Have you read Gibran’s writings/poems? Which one comes to mind? Do you have a personal philosophy about raising children? What memories of childhood stick out? Do share! Thank you. 😉
*Please bear with me as I continue to catch up on your blogs and commenting… Thank you all for your patience! 🙂
For More: Women’s Lives & Issues
Positive Motivation Tip: Children are a blessing. They teach us about surrender, love, life, and help us to grow.
PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: All photos Children at play, Chennai children smiling, via Wikipedia and/or via Flickr Excerpts via Poemhunter.com: Children Chapter IV
Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet
Related articles
- Khalil Gibran: On Giving And Taking… (eof737.wordpress.com)
- Your Children Are Not Your Children (womenofspiritandlight.wordpress.com)
- Kahlil Gibran, on children (ns2gs.wordpress.com)
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Hi,
I was passing by and found your post resonate with me. You may like to visit an allied blog that I wrote recently.
Love to be in touch.
Shakti
TY for your comment. I enjoyed my visit to your blog and the article on Happiness was excellent. 🙂
“If we wish to create a lasting peace, we must begin with the children.” Mahatma Gandhi
these are such wise words.
My own daughter has certainly mellowed since the birth of her first child. She continally says to me now “I don’t know how you coped with three children under three!”
I agree with you totally Pip. Yes, we must begin with the children. Children do not see the bigotry, prejudice and other causes for discord that adults seem to have.
Exactly. It is learned… Sadly! 🙁
Lovely post. If we could take this advice and apply it not only to our own children – which is easy as we are strongly wired to do that – but to all children, then the world would truly and quite quickly become a better place. The old – ‘It takes a village to rear a child’ – adage could change the world right there!
Your thoughts are always delicate and profound.
They are real.
Gibram is among my favorite poets.
Nazim Hikmet also, brave hearts of a life spent in love for all.
kiss immense
vento
You definitely can not go wrong when you blog about children of Kahlil Gibran. Then man captured the essence of life in his writings. This post is a wonderful share. Thank you. 😉
They come through you but not from you…this is the most beautiful piece on children I have ever read!
Gibran’s poetry sizzles again and what comes to mind is Whitney’s song – The Greatest Love Of All. Thank you for such a sweet post and we don’t even have to have children to appreciate the message. I found your line about adults who like to hide behind lies thought provoking.
B
I like the Jung quote. The joys of childhood – so innocent…and truthful!
Thank you for creating this blog. It is so wonderful to read! If I don’t comment every time, do know that I read it, learned from it and am better for it.
“Our children come with their own desires and dreams, and we do our bit, then watch with bated breath as they fly the coop… ” No truer words have ever been spoken Elizabeth. Lovely post!
What a lovely post! I love kids, I enjoyed your post. Also, thank you for always stopping by my blog. I have fallen so behind on others, I need to catch up. School started up again, and have been taking sometime to myself and all that good stuff. I will contiune to to catch myself up. excited to see more of your posting 🙂
Elizabeth…you constantly amaze me! What a super awesome post! I’ve pressed this. 🙂 And also passed along two awards to you: Kreativ Blog and Sunshine Award: http://viviankirkfield.wordpress.com/2012/03/15/reflections-speak-to-us-of-children/
Thank you for always lifting me up and filling me with joy!
Thank you Vivian! I appreciate the feedback. Always! I’m still behind on comments and Likes and working furiously to correct it. TY! 🙂
What a beautiful verse that is
I say that to my daughter now! It’s impossible to explain what its like to be a mother isn’t it? When you get there its wonderful, scary, perfect and shocking all at once. Nothing matches it and nothing can compare.
I think the only Gibran I’ve read has been here, a problem I should work on remedying in the very near future. 🙂
So true!! A good reminder for all of us parents, no matter how old we are (or how old our children are)!
My mom used to say that – like delayed punishment – and I used to say back, Your children are not your children (So, there!).
I love the Carl Jung quote, it is so true! And probably the same applies to adults we sometimes try to change…
OH, I love the photo of the little one on the sled “child in charge.” How precious is the moment!!
Wisdom words for sure: “You may give them your love but not your thoughts. For they have their own thoughts.”
Thanks again!
Beautiful poem and one we can all relate to whether we are parents or not. It made me think of my own parents and how they raised me. Lovely post!
This post is a blessing.. and yes, children do teach us MANY things! =)
lovely way to start the day with Gibran and children.
i believe our animal friends come into our lives for the same purposes, “to teach us about surrender, patience, love, life, and to help us to grow. They remind us how to act from a place of grace and gratitude. ”
I love these lines from the poem:
“Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.”
is that your photo of the child and doll baby on sleds? what a great picture. made me laugh.
Kids rock! 😀
Amen to that! 🙂
Very nicely captured that photo.
This is one of my favorites too! How do we remind a lot of people that their children are not a part of them but rather a part from them?
I think people learn that slowly… it sinks in as the kids develop their lives apart from ours. 😉
Children are always their real selves which is why as a society we cherish children and innocence, it must be protected. And it goes hand-in-hand with the Bible teachings that when we die we come before God “as little children.” If only more adults could recapture the best childlike qualities and just be who we are, not who we think others expect us to be or want us to be.
Sorry I have been absent of late. I am trying to play catch up on my favorite blogs.
I love this writing of Kahlil Gibran on children. The line, “They come through you but not from you” is a reminder to parents that children are not their possession, that children have their rights and voices…
No truer words were spoken about children and their impact on our lives.
“…and let it begin with me.” is how one of my favorite church hymns praying for world peace ends. We must have peace within us, then share it with the children, and then it will naturally spread. My strongest yearnings are to be a vehicle to building loving connections for peace around the world.
I’m a huge follower than a leader. I lead by example. You’re right about how kids imitate adults. We better set good example to them.
Clever submission.
Yes, I agree that we must all lead by example as kid observe what adults do and tend to copy it… TY! 🙂