What qualities of your mother
have you absorbed into your personality?
And have you done so by choice?

What values of your father
have you incorporated into your worldview?
And have you done so by choice? 

What teachings of your childhood faith
have you blended into your belief system?
And have you done so by choice?

The unexamined life
may still be worth living,
but is it truly your own?
Is it authentic?
And are you free?

Text and image © 2012 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.