in "A Psalm for Life"
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.
Learning from the Victorious
Few of us go through life without challenges, often seemingly insurmountable. Remembering those who refused to let life get them down, even under dire circumstances, can inspire and encourage us. Here are some of my favorites, not necessarily in order.
1. Steely determination and the will to live enabled Eddie Rickenbacker, the World War I ace pilot, Medal of Honor recipient, and president of Eastern Airlines, plus six others, to survive 24 days in a life raft when a B-17 crashed in the Pacific Ocean a year after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
2. At the age of 3, while playing in his father's shop, Louis Braille injured his eye on a sharp tool. Despite the best care available at the time, infection set in and soon spread to the other eye, leaving him completely blind. At age 20, he perfected the Braille system which helps blind people to read.
3. Fanny Crosby, American poet and lyricist, wrote over 8,000 hymns in her life, even though she became blind shortly after she was born. Among the best known are “Safe in the Arms of Jesus,” “Rescue the Perishing,” “Blessed Assurance,” “The Bright Forever,” “Savior, More Than Life to Me,” and “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior.”
4. In 1834, Scottish writer Thomas Carlyle, was working furiously on a book titled The French Revolution. When he completed Volume 1, he sent his only copy to his friend John Stuart Mill. While in Mill's care the manuscript was destroyed, according to Mill, by a careless household maid who mistook it for trash and used it as a firelighter. Carlyle then rewrote the entire manuscript, achieving what he described as a book that came "direct and flamingly from the heart."
5. The final movement in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is the most famous, as it served as the musical setting for Friedrich Schiller's poem "Ode to Joy." Ludwig Beethoven was already deaf when he wrote it. The composer could not hear the frenetic applause when the symphony premiered on May 7, 1824.
Lives of courageous men (and women) who chose to be victors, not victims, silently shout, "Take heart. This too shall pass." May we listen . . . and learn from them,'
Blessings and prayers for all,
Colleen
1. Steely determination and the will to live enabled Eddie Rickenbacker, the World War I ace pilot, Medal of Honor recipient, and president of Eastern Airlines, plus six others, to survive 24 days in a life raft when a B-17 crashed in the Pacific Ocean a year after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
2. At the age of 3, while playing in his father's shop, Louis Braille injured his eye on a sharp tool. Despite the best care available at the time, infection set in and soon spread to the other eye, leaving him completely blind. At age 20, he perfected the Braille system which helps blind people to read.
3. Fanny Crosby, American poet and lyricist, wrote over 8,000 hymns in her life, even though she became blind shortly after she was born. Among the best known are “Safe in the Arms of Jesus,” “Rescue the Perishing,” “Blessed Assurance,” “The Bright Forever,” “Savior, More Than Life to Me,” and “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior.”
4. In 1834, Scottish writer Thomas Carlyle, was working furiously on a book titled The French Revolution. When he completed Volume 1, he sent his only copy to his friend John Stuart Mill. While in Mill's care the manuscript was destroyed, according to Mill, by a careless household maid who mistook it for trash and used it as a firelighter. Carlyle then rewrote the entire manuscript, achieving what he described as a book that came "direct and flamingly from the heart."
5. The final movement in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is the most famous, as it served as the musical setting for Friedrich Schiller's poem "Ode to Joy." Ludwig Beethoven was already deaf when he wrote it. The composer could not hear the frenetic applause when the symphony premiered on May 7, 1824.
Lives of courageous men (and women) who chose to be victors, not victims, silently shout, "Take heart. This too shall pass." May we listen . . . and learn from them,'
Blessings and prayers for all,
Colleen
2 comments:
These are such inspiring experiences that you listed here. I was only familiar with one, and that was Beethoven's experience. All the others were new to me. Thanks. It shows that we can overcome obstacles if we try hard enough.
Yes. And thinking about those who have faced all kinds of adversity and even used it to bless others offers hope that we too can be "more than conquerors."
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