“ Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each tomorrow
Find us farther than today.”
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
This is from my favorite poem, “The Psalm of Life” which starts “Lives of great men remind us, we can make our lives sublime, and departing leave behind us, footprints in the sands of time.” It’s about following the examples laid before us, and at the same time, making our own way – becoming a new example, a new light to guide others. Longfellow understood that we need to keep going, to keep pursuing our spiritual growth, because that is our ultimate purpose.
-Lissa Coffey