A PSALM OF LIFE
WHAT THE HEART OF THE YOUNG MAN
SAID TO THE PSALMIST
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 to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle !
Be a hero in the strife !
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, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time ;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate ;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
Recently I have been thinking a lot about the footprints that we leave on the world as we go through our lives. I was very excited to go to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert a couple of weeks back as they visited Red Rocks Amphitheater to end their tour of the nation. As I sat and listened, they sang songs that praised our beautiful nation and those that founded it. But not only did they sing patriotic songs that I love, but they sang the song "Call of the Champions" to celebrate the disabled athletes in Colorado and through out the world. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEH6zNDhcQU) As I watched the slide show and listened to the music, I was touched by the effort and dedication that was shown by those athletes and I asked myself if I have the same great attributes that they have. I thought it was fitting that I was thinking those things as I was sitting in the beautiful Red Rocks Amphitheater which was built by those destroyed financially during the great depression. Its construction was a part of the New Deal which was created by FDR during those hard times.
I question myself, "what am I doing to leave a footprint and make someones life in the future more enjoyable and better? Am I leaving a legacy that people will look upon with great admiration?" I also think about that as I just watched I am Legend yesterday. It was a movie that didn't leave me with happy tingles running up and down my spine, but the end was all about the legend that we leave when we pass on. As I have been visiting Home Depots around Colorado building things in their store and trying to make it look better, I have pondered on these things and it brings me great satisfaction in my work to see me leaving the store better than when I came. I often get comments from employees that what I have done looks so much better than what it looked like before. Those comments make me feel like I am having an impact on others. Will they remember who I am and how it was me that built whatever it was in the store? No. But they will enjoy it for a long time to come. I was also able to got to a place here in Colorado named Joseph's Camp. It is going to be a camping site for youth activities and girls camp in the future. a couple of weeks ago, I helped pull stumps out of the camp sites and today I helped put the plumbing in. Will anyone ever know that Dan Alletto helped do that in the future? No, but they will know that Joseph's Camp is a place where they were able to enjoy themselves spending time with their friends and leaders in the church. It is a place where they can feel the spirit as they have firesides. It is a place where testimonies can be strengthened. I'm very satisfied with my efforts today and the footprints I have left so far this summer, but I cannot live my life with just leaving a summer of footprints. I can only feel like I have fulfilled my duties in life if I can touch many more peoples lives today, tomorrow, and in the years to come.
