The young mother set her foot on the path of life.
"Is this the long way?" she asked. And the 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 the young Mother cried,
"Nothing will ever be lovelier than this."
Then the night came, and the 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,
"Mother, we are not afraid, for you are near, and
no harm can come."
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, "Mother, we would not have
done it without you." And the mother, when she
lay down at 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 them strength."
And 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
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. But 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 they could see a shining road
and golden gates flung wide. And mother said:
"I have reached the end of my journey. And now I
know 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."
~ Author ~
Temple Bailey
1933
Note: I have come across three different titles including
Mothers Walk but believe the author is the original writer
of this beautiful poem.
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