a psalm of life

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.

...

Let us, then, be up and doing,

With a heart for any fate;

Still achieving, still pursuing,

Learn to labour and to wait,

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

my friend marsha is a good soul. on july 8, 2008 we celebrated with her. she had a birthday. with joy and gratitude she embraced her years. it was a birth and a rebirth party. for on this day the doctor's gave her the "all clear" notice. she is a survivor of pancreatic cancer! note: less than 5% of patients diagnosed with this disease are still alive five years after diagnosis, but for some reason the Lord does not need her yet and has allowed her to linger longer with us. how lucky we are and how grateful we are. marsha lives life fully. she serves, she works, she plays, she honors the Lord. here's to marsha - and to numerous more decades!