An Essay by Jackie Houchin
From head to toes
Are my body’s woes.
But my spirit knows–
That it’s blessed and beneficial.
For where God’s discipline goes
Repentance, then forgiveness
Are what His “rod” bestows.
I might never have thought
To lean on God, were it not
For these annoying and debilitating foes.
— me
Deafening ears, fading sight,
rumbling gut, trips at night
creaking knees, pin-pricked feet
and skin that turns purple
at the tiniest tweak.
Ecclesiastes 12:1-7, 13
Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth,
before the evil days come
and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”;
before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened
and the clouds return after the rain,
in the day when the keepers of the house tremble,
and the strong men are bent,
and the grinders cease because they are few,
and those who look through the windows are dimmed,
and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low,
and one rises up at the sound of a bird,
and all the daughters of song are brought low—
they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way;
the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along,
and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home,
and the mourners go about the streets—
before the silver cord is snapped,
or the golden bowl is broken,
or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain,
or the wheel broken at the cistern,
and the dust returns to the earth as it was,
and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
The end of the matter;
all has been heard.
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man.
~~~ King Solomon
Psalm 90:10, 12.
The years of our life are seventy,
or even by reason of strength eighty;
yet their span is but toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.
or even by reason of strength eighty;
yet their span is but toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.
So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
~~~ Moses
Photo by Vladimir Soares on Unsplash
..
Words and Reviews 