POEM: Yesterdays by Father Abram Joseph Ryan
Gone! and they return no more,
But they leave a light in the heart;
The murmur of waves that kiss a shore
Will never, I know, depart.
Gone! yet with us still they stay,
And their memories throb through life;
The music that hushes or stirs to-day,
Is toned by their calm or strife.
Gone! and yet they never go!
We kneel at the shrine of time:
'Tis a mystery no man may know,
Nor tell in a poet's rhyme.
When I was in college
studying English literature, I read many different authors. Father Ryan was one of my favorites, but it
might not be for a reason you would guess.
He was the “Poet Laureate of the
Confederacy” and stayed at a home that a friend of mine once owned in Biloxi,
Mississippi.
I recognized
the spiritual side of his writing as well as the historical value of the things
that Father Ryan put on paper. It is my
understanding that the things we share, write and voice go much further than
the first hearing or reading. They seem
to reverberate in the lives of the people that those words attach themselves
to.
Ryan’s words
attached themselves to my mind and heart just as so many other books, poems and
many Bible verses have been attached to my life.
But what
sticks out to me is the historical value of what is written or the happenings
that become part of our part. Literature
is important. The Bible continues to
come to life as we read it, and as the Bible attaches itself and we allow it to
shape our lives.
Where am I
going with this? Thanks for asking.
Sunday evening
we spent with a friend who is a photographer that was taking pictures of our
oldest daughter Rebecca. He was taking
her senior pictures. As I looked on the
picture taking, saw the pictures later or just stood and thought, I was struck
by the truth that this beautiful young lady was the same infant that was crying
so quietly some 17 years ago as I couldn’t stop crying. She is growing up so fast.
History is
standing before me and standing strong.
She has become a beautiful young lady full of character and
strength. I have watched her make
choices that I am so proud of. The story
can go on and on.
But the day
will come when my daughter will go to college.
One day she will announce that she wants to get married, but I will stop
there. Don't think I can handle any more
as a dad right now.
We must
cherish the time we have. The children
grow up so fast. We lose friends to
death or to moving across the country, and things simply change. Take up every opportunity that God gives you.
Yesterdays are
important. We cannot get them back, but
we can and must learn from them.
Yesterdays afford us memories that strengthen our hearts, they are
points of the past that will remind us of happenings, good and bad, as well as
things that we must learn from and leave better.
Thank God for
your yesterdays. Allow yesterdays to run through your mind, but don’t allow
yesterdays to hold you back from growing stronger and allowing yourself to move
forward with freedom and grace.
Colossians 4:5 NLT
Live wisely among those who are not
believers, and make the most of every opportunity.
Philippians 3:13 NLT
No, dear brothers and sisters, I have
not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past
and looking forward to what lies ahead,
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