parenting as a crap shoot

the flare of self

parenting,

what a roll of the dice,

we love unconditionally,

we stumble about in a trackless wood,

and make decision after decision on the fly,

knowing what we want to be as parent,

what fullness of self we hope for our child,

and how limited our vision and control 

can feel themselves to be,

for, as God discovered, 

free will lives,

beyond our control, 

as is right,

the child must choose, 

and then we know who she is, 

who he is,

when circumstance and choice, 

plus the hope of our parenting,

lead to a personhood that knows itself,

and flares itself with sureness and rightness,

how magnificent the revelation of self can be!

by Henry H. Walker

February 26, ‘19