PL Fallin Photography

Monday, July 29, 2019

The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls

The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls
by Henry Wadesworth Longfellow

The tide rises, the tide falls,
The twilight darkens, the curlew calls;
Along the sea-sands damp and brown
The traveler hastens toward the town,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.

Darkness settles on roofs and walls,
But the sea, the sea in darkness calls;
The little waves, with their soft, white hands,
Efface the footprints in the sands,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.

The morning breaks; the steeds in their stalls
Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls;
The day returns, but evermore
Returns the traveler to the shore,

And the tide rises, the tide falls.

John 5:11 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life."

In Loving Memory
Mary Lee Smith-Brown (1928-2019)
Photo: Gulf of Mexico, Panama City, Florida

Sunday, July 28, 2019

A Psalm of Life

A Psalm of Life
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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.

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 world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe'er 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 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 fare;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn no labor and to wait.

This poem expresses how a person's "footprint in the sands of time" can impact the lives of others. Throughout her life, my mom reached out to countless others in need: cooking meals, collecting and serving food banks, clothing, visiting nursing homes, teaching children Sunday School, sharing her garden, comforting and praying for family, friends and neighbors. She has left footprints for us to follow on how to be kind, compassionate and to love and serve others.

In Loving Memory
Mary Lee Smith-Brown
April 16, 1928 Canton, Georgia
July 19, 2019 Columbus, Georgia

Thursday, July 25, 2019

My Mom is "Love"

There is one word I can use to describe my mom and it is "Love". She lived her life with love for God, her family, friends and neighbors including the most needy. She was kind, compassionate and charitable of her time always serving and helping those in need. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It keeps no record of wrongs, Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." This is how she lived her life. Everything she did was with love. 1 John 4:16 says "God is love, whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them."

My mom, sister and me in 1954 in Columbus Georgia. My dad and mom worked in the cotton mills and we lived in a white cotton mill house. It was only a 3 room house. My beautiful mom would come home with cotton all in her hair but she never complained and was grateful to have a job, a roof over our heads and food on the table.