Please follow this below the Fleur d'Kos if you have any hope left that we can save some of our children from becoming culture-slaves; it must be passed from parent to child.
I was given this over thirty years ago. Years ago (pre-WWW) I would make about 500 copies of this and pass them out at malls. Most people would think I'm selling something (which in a way I was) and not read it. But some --a very few-- would come find me to thank me for for what I'm sharing below.
Please pass this around. No matter what your beliefs, these are universal truths.
I will publish this again before Christmas. Since I first started publishing it once a year at Christmas, hundreds of thousands of new kossacks have joined. I may be shouting to the wind in a canyon of self-indulgence, but I believe this deserves to be seen and shared widely. I may be a non-theist, but I know good when I see it. Besides, I have two beautiful granddaughters who deserve some innocence while they are small. The world will wait.
Merry Christmas (from an old heathen)
And yes... I know I did...
What shall we give the children?
"In the long twilight of the year, the faces of the children grow luminous. Rosy with cold, arabesqued with snowflakes, leaning into the wind, or drowsing before the fire, their eyes large, they look and listen, as if they glimpsed the peripheries of miracle or heard a soundless music in the air. From the innocent kingdom of implicit belief to that uncomfortable arena where the implacable mind battles the intractable heart, the faces of children at Christmas are lighted with visions of things to come.
What shall we give the children?
It seems certain that they will travel roads we never thought of; navigate strange seas, cross unimagined boundaries, and glimpse horizons beyond our power to visualize. What can we give them to take along? For the wild shores of Beyond, no toy or bauble will do. It must be something more; constructed of stouter fabric discovered among the cluttered aisles and tinseled bargain counters of experience, winnowed from what little we have learned. It must be devised out of responsibility and profound caring – a home-made present of selfless love. Everything changes but the landscapes of the heart.
What shall we give the children?
--Attention, for one day it will be too late.
--A sense of value. The inalienable place of the individual in the scheme of things, with all that accrues to the individual; self-reliance, courage, conviction, self-respect, and respect for others.
--A sense of humor. Laughter leavens life.
--The meaning of discipline. If we falter at discipline, life will do it for us.
--The will to work. Satisfying work is the lasting joy.
--The talent for sharing; for it is not so much what we give as what we share.
--The love of justice. Justice is the bulwark against violence and oppression and the repository of human dignity.
--The passion for truth, founded on precept and example. Truth is the beginning of every good thing.
--The power of faith, engendered in mutual trust. Life without faith is a dismal dead-end street.
--The beacon of hope, which lights all darkness.
--The knowledge of being loved beyond demand or reciprocity, praise or blame; for those so loved are never really lost.
What shall we give the children?
The open sky, the brown earth, the leafy tree, the golden sand, the blue water, the stars in their courses, and awareness of these. Birdsong, butterflies, storms and rainbows. Sunlight, moonlight, firelight. A large hand reaching down for a small hand; impromptu praise, an unexpected kiss, a straight answer. The glisten of enthusiasm and a sense of wonder. O long days to be merry and nights without fear. The memory of a good home."
Author unknown.
7:19 PM PT: I just found out that this is reliably attributed to one Margaret Cousins and appeared in the December 1964 McCalls magazine. Judging by the overwhelming response to this, I'm guessing I'm probably the only Dan Fogelberg fan on the entire site as well.....