And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.”
These lines came from verse two of “A Psalm of Life” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, according to Google. [For years, I assumed they were lines from Shakespeare! My husband says that assumption is the lowest form of knowledge. :) ] The author is saying that there is an eternity for each one of us, not just this little dusty life.
It is amazing that I first heard these lines from a TV show, Wagon Train, when I was just a teen. I still remember the show, the actors, and the story line of the show. Apparently, the words rang so true that I tucked them away to think on for years ahead!
The old show can probably be found in a Google search. It was unique because it featured a guest appearance by a one-time famous actress, Bette Davis, once a star in Hollywood. She was older during the show.
Bette was portraying an older woman, a widow, who knew that she was dying of cancer. She was diligently trying to get her approximately four children farmed out to family members of the wagon train. Only the oldest and youngest still needed homes toward the end of the show. The conflict was resolved when the oldest decided to get married to a suitor and adopt the youngest, a little mute boy. Bette’s character dies at the end, and the program ends with the words above being recited (by the wagon train master, actor Ward Bond). What a tear-jerker!
The words still hold true for us. The grave is not the goal. What will remain for us is the deeds done in the body. But, most of all, did we yield our hearts and lives to the Lord Himself?
We can say with Paul the Apostle, “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection.”
It’s great to know that the average person can have that great privilege of knowing Him.