Scripture

“Certainly, man walks about like a mere shadow. Indeed, they frantically rush around in vain, gathering possessions without knowing who will get them.”

~Psalm 39:6, HCSB

Quote

Life is brief and fleeting at best. Even a short life is filled with trouble and turmoil.

~Alton H. McEachern

My first reading in Psalms yesterday was Psalm 70. One commentary linked this Psalm to Psalm 40 and then from there I went to Psalm 39 where David talks about the how fleeting, fragile and futile life can be. Life is like a shadow or a breath. Twice, David refers to life as a ‘vapor'{5,12}. I can certainly testify that life is short. I wake up in the night thinking about my friends who have preceded me. My childhood friend, next door neighbor, Dennis Brooks was killed in a automobile accident when he was 25 years old. That was 48 years ago and when my sister called to tell me, I refused to believe her. I said, “You’ve gotten bad information from someone, check it our, this cannot be true.” It was true. One of the few high school friends I had was Morris Hill and he was killed in an automobile accident 23 years ago. Actually, Morris lived a couple of weeks but died in HH from injuries from the accident. The list goes on and on and many of them were 49’ers. Gary, Larry and Kenny were all born in 1949 which is my birth year. One of the big mysteries is why they taken and why was I left? I don’t know the answer to that question but one thing I do know, time is precious and it should not be wasted.

I ran into an old friend last Saturday and he is 69 and he looks 50. I told him I was glad to see someone who didn’t look their age. I had a baby face until I got to 40 but somewhere along the way, I lost it. I don’t know how many people think I am older than my brother. I get that question all the time: “Now who is the oldest, you or John?” I usually say, “Are you kidding me, he is seven years older than I am.” Evidently, it does not appear that way because they keep asking. I never dreamed of getting old. I grew up in the 50’s and 60’s and I never dreamed of life beyond the year 2,000 and now it is about to be 2023. I tell folks, “I went to bed young and woke up old.” Aging happens fast. Now, there are some good things about aging but there are a lot of things that become more difficult. Aging will slow you down and it will increase your affinity for things you once hated like naps. I enjoy sitting quietly and doing nothing. I enjoy staying at home. The older I get, the less I want to go. I have reached the point where I have scratched my bucket list. Yes, there are places I would love to see but I don’t want to endure the discomfort of travel. Scott Dawson asked me last Monday, “When are you going back to Israel with us?” I said, “When I can afford to fly first class.”

Anyway, you get the point: don’t waste time. Make every minute count.

Extra

Fall is definitely here PTL. A sweater or light jacket would have felt good on my walk to the office this morning. I hope you have a great day and thanks for reading the blog.