Don’t teach your children

Don’t teach your son
That strength and might are everything
Teach him to love and to accept himself as the way he is

Don’t teach your son
To pursue honour and power
Teach him to reach for love and wisdom

Don’t tell your son to stop crying
Because you want to teach him that boys don’t cry
Teach him instead to recognize and to accept his feelings
And that tears are God’s beautiful gifts
So he may learn not to be frustrated by his emotions
And when he gets older he has learned how to live fully

Don’t teach your daughter
To focus on physical beauty
Teach her to love and to accept herself as the way she is

Don’t teach your daughter
How to please a man
Teach her how to please God

Don’t tell your daughter to stop
If she enjoys jumping, running, and climbing
If she loves to explore and to experiment with things
Don’t force her to sit sweetly quietly and calmly
Because her soul that wants to be free
And her God’s given curiousness
Will be trimmed and ruined immediately

Fill your home
With love, wisdom, and understanding
Not with wealth, physical beauty, degree, and power

Share to your sons and daughters
The beauty of the morning sun
The warmth of holding sand in your hands
The intimacy of butterfly and flowers
And the rhythm of the falling rain

If you want your children to worship God
Echo the presence of God within you
You can not push them to pray and worship
When they do not capture the meaning of prayers from you

If you want your children to love knowledge
Radiate your desire to learn to them
Your advice will not make them read
When they never witness you enjoying a book

If you want your children to love
Show them your love toward them and to others
Words only will not able to make them love
If they never feel any love from you

For your children
You are the main example
No need for many words
No need for millions of advice
If you want your children to live as you wish them to
Simply, live that way!

Cikarang, 16 Agustus 2008, 14:40 WIB
In Memoriam, J. P. († 16 Agustus 1987 at the age of 46 years)
And because of the wisdom of a mother, D. S.

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"The thing I love most is my freedom. It makes me able to love everybody and everything, without reserve, without prejudice, without fear of being rejected, betrayed, or even killed..."
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Luciana