Invisible Grandparenting: Leave a Legacy of Love Whether You Can Be There or Not
Dear Child of God:
I hope you will take advantage of the offer below.
A BABY BLESSING THE WORLD NEEDS NOW
by Pat Hanson, Ph.D.
– Soon to appear on GRANDMagazine.com
In this time of global upheaval and war, would that every family would use a ‘welcome blessing’ like this one. Can you imagine standing on the stage in the sanctuary of your choice; your family holding its newest member, and your community facing you with their arms outstretched repeating in unison:
We, your spiritual community, pledge to create a world that makes it easy for you to be all that you are intended to be.
We will mind our minds, be careful of what we create, and give you the freedom to grow. We will wage peace, protect the planet, and leave its resources in better shape than we found it.
Welcome to the world. We make a place for you.
Reverend Deborah Johnson’s Children’s Blessing (© 2005 – Inner Light Ministries, Santa Cruz, California)is beautiful in both its simplicity and the depth of its challenge. Before she involves the entire congregation, she reads Khalil Gibran’s On Children from The Prophet, aboutreleasing any arrow from a bow, or child to its destiny.
On Children
Kahlil Gibran
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.
Then the parents and any support family and friends present circled my grandchildren Sierra and Ivan, and repeated this PARENTS’ PLEDGE.
We pledge to love, nurture and protect you.
We will invest in your future, but never at the expense of living today.
We will support your authenticity and model to you how to be in a healthy relationship.
We will encourage you to dream large and to partner with God in the fulfillment of those dreams.
We will listen to you, learn from you, laugh and play with you.
Our love is unconditional and we will be there for you always.
Thank you for the privilege of growing with you.
And there’s more! As all children and teenagers present are invited to join the family on the altar, everyone repeats this chant three times directly to the young ones:
Yes you can.
I believe in you.
I am never, ever, giving up on you.
What a different world it might be should this kind of support be given to the children who are our future.