<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr">On Sat, Apr 10, 2021 at 5:48 PM <<a href="mailto:thompnickson2@gmail.com">thompnickson2@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div lang="EN-US" style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div class="gmail-m_1843730831476873910WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal">Or as Kahil Gibran once famously said: “You are the bow from which your children as arrows fly; let you bending in the hands of The Archer be for joy.”<br></p></div></div></blockquote><div><br>Nick you turned me on to this poem a couple of weeks ago and I think it's beautiful. Who/What do you understand the Archer to be? <br><br><div class="gmail-card-header gmail-pb-2 gmail-pt-3 gmail-bg-white" style="box-sizing:border-box;padding:1.2rem 1.25rem 0.6rem 3.25rem;margin-bottom:0px;border-bottom:1px solid transparent;color:rgb(52,52,52);font-family:"Founders Grotesk",-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,"Segoe UI",Roboto,"Helvetica Neue",Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><div style="box-sizing:border-box"><div class="gmail-d-flex gmail-poem__title gmail-mb-1" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:flex;margin-bottom:0.3rem"><h1 class="gmail-card-title" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0.75rem;font-weight:500;line-height:3rem;font-size:2.5rem;font-family:"Poets Electra Roman No 2";font-style:italic">On Children</h1></div><span class="gmail-card-subtitle" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-bottom:0px;font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.4"><a href="https://poets.org/poet/kahlil-gibran" class="gmail-" target="_self" style="box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(0,122,179);text-decoration-line:none;background-color:transparent">Kahlil Gibran</a><span class="gmail-dates" style="box-sizing:border-box"> - 1883-1931</span></span></div></div><div class="gmail-card-body" style="box-sizing:border-box;padding:1.25rem;font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.5;font-family:"Poets Electra",Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;color:rgb(52,52,52)"><div class="gmail-poem__body gmail-px-md-4 gmail-font-serif" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1.25rem;padding-right:1.8rem;padding-left:1.8rem"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:1rem"><span class="gmail-long-line" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-left:32px;display:inline-block">And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, Speak to us of Children.</span><br style="box-sizing:border-box"><span class="gmail-long-line" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-left:32px;display:inline-block">     And he said:</span><br style="box-sizing:border-box"><span class="gmail-long-line" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-left:32px;display:inline-block">     Your children are not your children.</span><br style="box-sizing:border-box"><span class="gmail-long-line" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-left:32px;display:inline-block">     They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.</span><br style="box-sizing:border-box"><span class="gmail-long-line" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-left:32px;display:inline-block">     They come through you but not from you,</span><br style="box-sizing:border-box"><span class="gmail-long-line" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-left:32px;display:inline-block">     And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.</span></p><p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:1rem"><span class="gmail-long-line" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-left:32px;display:inline-block">     You may give them your love but not your thoughts,</span><br style="box-sizing:border-box"><span class="gmail-long-line" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-left:32px;display:inline-block">     For they have their own thoughts.</span><br style="box-sizing:border-box"><span class="gmail-long-line" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-left:32px;display:inline-block">     You may house their bodies but not their souls,</span><br style="box-sizing:border-box"><span class="gmail-long-line" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-left:32px;display:inline-block">     For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.</span><br style="box-sizing:border-box"><span class="gmail-long-line" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-left:32px;display:inline-block">     You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.</span><br style="box-sizing:border-box"><span class="gmail-long-line" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-left:32px;display:inline-block">     For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.</span><br style="box-sizing:border-box"><span class="gmail-long-line" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-left:32px;display:inline-block">     You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.</span><br style="box-sizing:border-box"><span class="gmail-long-line" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-left:32px;display:inline-block">     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.</span><br style="box-sizing:border-box"><span class="gmail-long-line" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-left:32px;display:inline-block">     Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;</span><br style="box-sizing:border-box"><span class="gmail-long-line" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-left:32px;display:inline-block">     For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.</span></p></div></div></div></div></div>