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H2O Man

(73,333 posts)
Mon Feb 19, 2018, 07:17 PM Feb 2018

Student Power

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 those souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you can not visit, 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 ….
Let your bending in the archer's hand
be for gladness.
-- Kahlil Gibran

27 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Student Power (Original Post) H2O Man Feb 2018 OP
KR Me. Feb 2018 #1
Thanks, Me! H2O Man Feb 2018 #6
... Me. Feb 2018 #9
Wonderful! coeur_de_lion Feb 2018 #16
My interest is in H2O Man Feb 2018 #18
Love it! coeur_de_lion Feb 2018 #19
I will. H2O Man Feb 2018 #21
You bet! coeur_de_lion Feb 2018 #23
Having my morning coffee, H2O Man Feb 2018 #24
May the odds be always in your favor coeur_de_lion Feb 2018 #25
They are... H2O Man Feb 2018 #26
thank you handmade34 Feb 2018 #2
Thanks! H2O Man Feb 2018 #7
That is heavy! kentuck Feb 2018 #3
Right! H2O Man Feb 2018 #10
Thank you. prairierose Feb 2018 #4
It's powerful. H2O Man Feb 2018 #11
K&R. n/t ms liberty Feb 2018 #5
Thank you! H2O Man Feb 2018 #12
Much truth and wisdom there. Some pain too. Thanks much. appalachiablue Feb 2018 #8
You are right. H2O Man Feb 2018 #13
I honestly believe we are seeing the beginning RandomAccess Feb 2018 #14
I agree completely. H2O Man Feb 2018 #15
Love this so much coeur_de_lion Feb 2018 #17
Sooooo many memories RandomAccess Feb 2018 #20
Definitely! H2O Man Feb 2018 #22
See? That's exactly it -- RandomAccess Feb 2018 #27

H2O Man

(73,333 posts)
6. Thanks, Me!
Mon Feb 19, 2018, 09:00 PM
Feb 2018

Heading to a university tomorrow. I'll be meeting college and high school students.

coeur_de_lion

(3,666 posts)
16. Wonderful!
Mon Feb 19, 2018, 10:41 PM
Feb 2018

Be sure to report back. Those kids have a lot to learn from you and I bet they are eager to get started.

H2O Man

(73,333 posts)
18. My interest is in
Mon Feb 19, 2018, 11:09 PM
Feb 2018

what they think, and plan to do this year, and for 2020. Some of my experience may be of interest to them. And perhaps a couple of my ideas. For example, on issues such as gun control, a lot can be done on the state level, as well as the federal level. And I will borrow from Malcolm X, to encourage them to think for themselves, and identify their own unique programs.

handmade34

(22,755 posts)
2. thank you
Mon Feb 19, 2018, 07:37 PM
Feb 2018

Gibran, and this particular passage was the basis for how I've lived my live and raised my kids...

H2O Man

(73,333 posts)
7. Thanks!
Mon Feb 19, 2018, 09:04 PM
Feb 2018

I first read it decades ago, while in 10th grade, in A.S. Neill's classic "Summerhill." Are you familiar with that book? It also had a great introduction by Erich Fromm.

I tried very hard to use this in raising my kids. They have all come out better people than I. And their friends, too.

H2O Man

(73,333 posts)
10. Right!
Mon Feb 19, 2018, 09:52 PM
Feb 2018

It's one of my favorites.

I liked the demonstration by students in front of the White House today.

H2O Man

(73,333 posts)
11. It's powerful.
Mon Feb 19, 2018, 09:57 PM
Feb 2018

And I think these wonderful young people are a force the NRA and their puppets in DC is growing concerned about. It's been reported that Trump might meet and "listen" to some of them. That involves some risk for him: he won't like to hear what many of them are saying. At least one person inside the White House is "concerned" that Trump might insult one or more of them in a tweet.

 

RandomAccess

(5,210 posts)
14. I honestly believe we are seeing the beginning
Mon Feb 19, 2018, 10:14 PM
Feb 2018

of a student-led movement that will rival if not excel what we witnessed in the anti-war movement of the 60s and 70s. And they too will change the world.

 

RandomAccess

(5,210 posts)
20. Sooooo many memories
Mon Feb 19, 2018, 11:53 PM
Feb 2018

Here's something else I'll bet you'll agree with: We had THE BEST music. If our generation had done nothing else but have that great music, we'd still have changed the world.

H2O Man

(73,333 posts)
22. Definitely!
Tue Feb 20, 2018, 12:46 AM
Feb 2018

I was talking about that with my cousin today, when I visited him. I told him that I had posted some of the lyrics from Steppenwolf's "Monster" here on DU.

On a related subject, my older daughter called me last night. She was happy to report that she's learned several of George Harrison's songs. She's performed Lennon's "Imagine" at a rally before. She works in a law office in Boston, and is a fine example of a young political activist.

 

RandomAccess

(5,210 posts)
27. See? That's exactly it --
Tue Feb 20, 2018, 04:25 PM
Feb 2018

so much of "our" music endures today. Not just as sweet memories or quaint remembrances of a bygone era or, as in the case of your daughter, useful songs for continuing the protest, but for itself as well. The music still lives, still affects today's music as well. Paul McCartney and so many others from that era still bring in audiences of all ages!

That was never true of earlier generations. I think back to when I was a kid. When the Big Band days were over, they were OVER, by golly, along with some of the pop music from the early 50s -- Perry Cuomo, some of the groups. Sinatra was one of few who endured to an extent, but I think he was a special case. I was never a fan, but he had them aplenty. As for any music earlier than the 40s, it was over and forgotten very quickly.

OUR music endures. Our music changed music, helped change the world, and still endures after all these years. It's amazing to me.

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