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Parable of Motherhood

By
Temple Bailey

The young mother set her foot on the path of life.  "Is the way long?" she asked.  And her 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 those 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 life was good, and the young mother cried, "Nothing will never be lovelier than this."

Then night came, and 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, "Oh Mother, we are not afraid, for you are near, and no harm can come," and the mother said, "This is better than the brightness of day, for I have taught my children courage."

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, "We could not have done it without you, Mother."  And the mother, when she lay down that 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 have given then strength."

And with 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 and brought 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.  And 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 the hill they could see a shining road and golden gates flung wide.  And the mother said, "I have reached the end of my journey.  And now I know that 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."

 

The Radiant Tree, and Other Stories...by Temple Bailey

The Tin Soldier (The Bestsellers of 1919)

 
7 Wonders
of the World
A Favor
A Fountain of Good
A Psalm of Life
Abraham Lincoln
Accountability
Addison
Advancement in Life
Albert Einstein
Allan Bloom
Anna Quindlen
Apples of Gold
Benjamin Disraeli
Brian Azar
Burnett
Character
Children
Choosing to Survive
Courage
Daniel Goleman
Desiderata 
Dogs Can Teach
Dreams That Come True
Edward Young
Energy and Ill Temper
Fair Treatment  
Faith 
Forgiveness
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Gary Zukav
Glenn Clark
Glenn Clark on Trust
God's Loan
Happiness Is....
Happy Is The Man...
Henry Van Dyke
History
How Far You Go in Life
How Rich Are We?
I Wish You Enough...
I’ve Learned…
Ibn Hazm
Information Please
Just Checking In
Kahil Gibran
Keep Your Fork
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Kindness
Kingsley on Friendship 
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Laura Lee Randall
Leaves of Gold on Education
Leo Tolstoy
Let Yourself...
Life
Life Is.....
Living Life to the Fullest
Look to this Day
Love
Love of Truth
Mary Stewart - Collect
Norman Cousins
Oliver Goldsmith
Oliver Wendell Holmes
On Life and Love
Parable of Motherhood
Pascal
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Plato
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President Ronald Reagan
Public Speakers Library
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Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Remember Me....
Right to Choice
Robert Louis Stevenson
Ron Yarnik
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Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Serenity Prayer
Simone de Beauvoir
Social Intercourse
Someone Special
Sonnet 116
St. Jerome
Success
Supreme Happiness
Take Time...
Tewa Indian Song 
The Answered Prayer
The Best Day of My Life
The Christmas Spirt
The Common Good
The Crow
The Father's Eyes
The Gold 
The Goose Story
The Hero
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The Man in the Arena
The Paradox of Our Time in History
The Prayer of St. Francis
The 'Present'
The Trouble Tree 
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Thoughts From
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Tom Brokow
True Glory
True Passion
Unique Flaws
Wealth, Success and Love
What I've Learned in Life
When You 
William Ellery Channing
William Faulkner
Within the Human Heart
Words of Encouragement
Words to Live By
Wrapping Paper
Youth
Your Children

 


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