A Little Parable for Mothers

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 these 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 ever be lovelier than this."

Then night came with a storm, and the path was dark, and the children shook with fear and col, 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."

The morning came, and there was a hill ahead, and the children climbed and grew weary. 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 first, for my children have learned fortitude in the face of hardness. Yesterday, I gave them courage, today I have given them strength."

The next day brought strange clouds which darkened the earth--clouds of war, hate, and evil, and the children groped and stumbled. The mother said, "Look up? Lift your eyes to the Light!" And it guided them and brought them beyond darkness. That night, the mother said, "This is the best day of all, for I have shown my children God."

The days went on, and the weeks and the months and the years. The mother grew old, and she was little and bent. But her children were tall and strong, and walked with courage. When the way was hard, they helped their mother, and when the way was rough, they lifted her, for she was light as a feather. 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." Her children said, "You will always walk with us, Mother, even when you have gone through the gates."

They stood and watched her as she went on alone, and the gates closed after her. 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."