“The Souls of the righteous are in the hands of God, and no torment will ever touch them” Wisdom 3:1
November always begins with an important reminder in my life – that this earth is a temporary, and we are not here just waiting to die, but to live actively in the present. Which reminds me of the Poem “A Psalm of Life “by the American Poet Henry Wadsworth Long fellow, as this was my favorite poem in my English class during my school days.
I remember my teacher explaining this so well that the 4th para in this poem still remains in my memory. I like post this poem as it inspired, me while I was visiting the graves of my family members. In fact, 2nd November which is All Souls Day celebrated in the Catholic Church, a day of obligation to offer mass, pray for the deceased and visit the graves. My mother too passed away on the 1st November and was buried the next day.
Rose Mary Viaguladass - my mother
There was no sadness now as I have accepted that death is a reality, and each of them had to leave when their time had come to leave the earth – so no regrets, no blaming anyone but only celebrating them in my life; for what they had been to me and how they had touched my life and helped me find meaning and purpose of my own life. So I decided to take off from my work and made a choice to visit all the graves of my family and our extended family.
Sr Barthalomeu - Sisters of Charity
It took me one full day to visit the graves where my family members are buried in three different places, my parents, grandparents, and David’s brother, his aunt and grandmother in one part of the city, another is my sister who was a nun died young at the age of 26 and my cousin a child of 7 years old buried in another area.
Maria Celestina - my 7 year old cousin.
A Psalm of Life – by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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 if 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 worlds broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like drum, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!
Trust no Future, however 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 sand 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.
When I read this poem again for the second and the third time, the thoughts that came were that no matter what our body will go back to the grave and our soul will not die – hence life has a purpose and we must take our life serious. The goal of our existence is to become a better person, a wiser than yesterday.
The 4th para remains my favourite which talks about the Time and how quickly it flies and how every heart beat is a “muffled drum” marching us towards death, because time is short, and the poet tells us to, not to think about our future, and do not live in the past worrying about our mistakes, but focus on the present and live in the here and now. To live with purpose and leave behind the lessons we have learnt, the experiences that has made us grow so that it becomes a torch light to those who are struggling to find light in their lives in their darkest moments.
As I journey in my life with gratitude – I would like to live a life of purpose, and as long as my heart keeps beating, I pray that l live courageously, making this world a better place to live in.
May you be happy and blessed!
