ETERNAL LEGACY

"If I CAN throw a single ray of light
across the darkened pathway of another,
if I can aid some soul to clearer sight of life and duty;
and thus bless my brother,
if I can wipe from any human cheek a tear;
I shall not have lived my live in vain while here.

"If I can guide some erring one to truth,
inspire within his heart a sense of duty;
 if I can plant within my soul of rosy youth
a sense of right, a love of truth and beauty;
if I can teach one man that God and heaven are near,
I shall not have lived in vain while here.

"If from my mind I banish doubt and fear,
and keep my life attuned to love and kindness,
if I can scatter light and hope and cheer,
and help remove the curse of mental blindness;
if I can make more joy, more hope, less pain,
I shall not have lived and loved in vain.

"If by life's roadside I can plant a tree,
beneath whose shade some wearied head may rest,
though I may never share its beauty,
I shall yet be truly blest--though no one knows my name,
nor drops a flower upon my grave,
I shall not have lived in vain while here".

_Anonymous