A Father's Prayer

General Douglas MacArthur

Build me a son, O Lord,
who will be strong enough to know when he is weak,
and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid;
one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat,
and humble and gentle in victory.

Build me a son
whose wishbone will not be where his backbone should be;
a son who will know Thee and
that to know himself is the foundation stone of knowledge.

Lead him I pray,
not in the path of ease and comfort,
but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge.
Here let him learn to stand up in the storm;
here let him learn compassion for those who fail.

Build me a son whose heart will be clear,
whose goal will be high;
a son who will master himself
before he seeks to master other men;
one who will learn to laugh,
yet never forget how to weep;
one who will reach into the future,
yet never forget the past.

And after all these things are his, add, I pray,
enough of a sense of humor,
so that he may always be serious,
yet never take himself too seriously.
Give him humility,
so that he may always remember
the simplicity of true greatness,
the open mind of true wisdom,
the meekness of true strength.

Then, I, his father will dare to whisper,
"I have not lived in vain."

Children

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,
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.

Kahlil Gibran - The Prophet