Pass It On: On Children

By:  Kahlil Gibran

[An excerpt from The Prophet"]

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.

Pass It On: Footprints

One night a man had a dream.

He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord.

Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.

Each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand;

one belonging to him, and the other belonging to the Lord.

When the last scene of his life flashed before him,

he looked back at the footprints in the sand.

He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of

footprints.

He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his

life.

This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it.

"Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the

way.

But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life,

there is only one set of footprints.

I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me."

The Lord replied: "My precious, precious child,

I love you and I would never leave you.

During your times of trial and suffering,

when you see only one set of footprints,

it was then that I carried you."

Source:  Unknown (Author of poem in dispute)

Pass It On: Creation

The Creator gathered all of Creation and said,
"I want to hide something from the humans until they are ready for it. It is the
realization that they create their own reality."
The eagle said, "Give it to me, I will take it to the moon."
The Creator said, "No. One day they will go there and find it."
The salmon said, "I will bury it on the bottom of the ocean."
"No. They will go there too."
The buffalo said, "I will bury it on the Great Plains."
The Creator said, "They will cut into the skin of the Earth and find it even
there."
Grandmother Mole, who lives in the breast of Mother Earth, and who has no
physical eyes but sees with spiritual eyes, said, "Put it inside of them."
"It is done."


Source:  Unknown (parable)

Pass It On: Our Deepest Fear

By:  Marianne Williamson (quoted by Nelson Mandela)

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Pass It On: Love Defined

1 Corinthians 13 (New International Version)

 1 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.
 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Past It On: Our Mirror

The good you find in others, is in you too. The faults you find in others, are
your faults as well. After all, to recognize something you must know it.

The possibilities you see in others, are possible for you as well. The beauty
you see around you, is your beauty. The world around you is a reflection, a
mirror showing you the person you are.

To change your world, you must change yourself. To blame and complain will only
make matters worse. Whatever you care about, is your responsibility. What you
see in others, shows you yourself.

See the best in others, and you will be your best. Give to others, and you give
to yourself. Appreciate beauty, and you will be beautiful. Admire creativity,
and you will be creative.

Love, and you will be loved. Seek to understand, and you will be understood.
Listen, and your voice will be heard. Teach, and you will learn.


Source:  Unknown (parable)