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’ve 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 for all eternity.”
[author unknown]
~~
Dr Bob, http://grif.net
1 cross + 3 nails = 4 given