Children.

I cannot read any newspaper without some comment on Amy Chua now. My own take on pushing our children or not is well known to my readers.

I just want to revive a memory.

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 do not belong to you.

Who they become has less to do with who you are,

than who they are.

You may give them your love,

but not your thoughts or values.

By your example, you show a way that is yours,

as they search for theirs.

You are the bow 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 steadfastly true to yourself.

For even as He loves the arrow that flies,

so too does

He love the bow that is strong and stable.”

– Omar Khayyam