At some point in your life you've probably heard the saying, "Into each life a little rain must fall."

You may or may not know that it is from a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, an American poet, educator, linguist who was born Feb. 27 in Portland, Maine, in 1807. He died on March 24, 1882.

In remembering Longfellow's birthday this week, it is interesting to note that he was such an admired figure in the United States during his life, that his 70th birthday in 1877 took on the air of a national holiday, with parades, speeches and the reading of his poetry. He had become one of the first American celebrities and was widely known for his poetry. His work was immensely popular during his time and is still today - though some modern critics consider him too sentimental. His poetry is based on familiar and easily understood themes with simple, clear, and flowing language.

Consider ...

"Be still sad heart and cease repining;

Behind the clouds the sun is shining,

Thy fate is the common fate of all,

Into each life a little rain must fall,

Some days must be dark and dreary."

Easy words to live by, knowing that not every day can be a good day, but it's not the entire day that has to be bad, dark and dreary.

For example, maybe you have a bad morning, your toast burns, you miss the bus and are late for work and an important meeting. The day goes on and someone takes you to lunch and you're back to the office just in time to get that important phone call that saves the company money. The boss pats you on the back for a job well done. You leave work, catch the bus just as it arrives at the corner and have the seat to yourself.

You arrive home, go to the mailbox and pull out a letter from an old friend and you smile as you run your hand over your name written in familiar script. You open the door, enter the house and your dog waits in the foyer, panting slightly, tail wagging, obviously happy you're home.

Not a bad day at all, really, just a rough start to the morning.

Perhaps what Longfellow is saying is though it may rain, the clouds will part soon, the sun will shine and things will get better and things are only as bad as you allow them to be.

That's what faith is, he is also perhaps telling us. Faith is believing in what we cannot see, but somehow knowing it is there. That the sun is shining, though we can't always feel the warmth of it on our skin.