Fr. Don's Daily Reflection - July 8, 2024
Psalm 62: “In you alone is my soul at rest. My help comes from you.”
This poem “A Psalm of Life” was written shortly before I entered high school, in 1838. It is subtitled “What The Heart Of The Young Man Said To The Psalmist”.
It is fairly easy to read. And it’s hopeful and energizing. Since I couldn’t do the equivalent, I called on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-82).
Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
and things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
dust thou art, to dust returnest,
was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
is our destined end or way;
but to act, that each tomorrow
find us farther than today.
Trust no future, howe’er pleasant!
Let the dead past bury its dead!
Act, – act in the living present!
Heart within, and God o’erhead!
Lives of great men all remind us
we can make our lives sublime,
and, departing, leaving behind us
footprints on the sands of time.
Let us, then, be up and doing
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
Psalm 27: “I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness / in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord; be strong; / be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord!”
