March 16, 2009

Beautiful Poem about mother and children that my mom used to read to me when I was younger and hope to read to my little children someday:

Mother's Path

The young mother set her foot on the path of life.

"Is this the long way?" she asked. And the guide

said: "Yes, and the way is hard. And you will be

old before you reach the end of it. But the end

will be better than the beginning."

But the young mother was happy, and she would

not believe that anything could be better than

these years. So she played with her children, and

gathered flowers for them along the way, and

bathed them in the clear streams; and the sun

shone on them, and the young Mother cried,

"Nothing will ever be lovelier than this."

Then the night came, and the storm, and the path

was dark, and the children shook with fear and

cold, and the mother drew them close and covered

them with her mantle, and the children said,

"Mother, we are not afraid, for you are near, and

no harm can come."

And the morning came, and there was a hill ahead,

and the children climbed and grew weary, and the

mother was weary. But at all times she said to the

children, "A little patience and we are there."

So the children climbed, and when they reached

the top they said, "Mother, we would not have

done it without you." And the mother, when she

lay down at night looked up at the stars and said,

"This is a better day than the last, for my children

have learned fortitude in the face of hardness.

Yesterday I gave them courage. Today, I have

given them strength."

And the next day came strange clouds which

darkened the earth, clouds of war and hate and evil, and the children groped and stumbled, and

the mother said: "Look up. Lift your eyes to the

light." And the children looked and saw above

the clouds an everlasting glory, and it guided them

beyond the darkness. And that night the Mother

said, "This is the best day of all, for I have shown

my children God."

And the days went on, and the weeks and the months and the years, and the mother grew old

and she was little and bent. But her children were

tall and strong, and walked with courage.

And when the way was rough, they lifted her, for

she was as light as a feather; and at last they came

to a hill, and beyond they could see a shining road

and golden gates flung wide. And mother said:

"I have reached the end of my journey. And now I

know the end is better than the beginning, for my

children can walk alone, and their children after

them."

And the children said, "You will always walk with

us, Mother, even when you have gone through the

gates." And they stood and watched her as she went on alone, and the gates closed after her.

And they said: "We cannot see her, but she is with

us still. A Mother like ours is more than a memory.

She is a living presence."

~ Author ~

Temple Bailey

1933