They grow up so fast!

21 Years

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Here’s another

Birth to 12 years in 2 min. 45 sec

For Grandparents day!

Photo Credit: Ashley Davis

 

I love Ecclesiastes. Especially chapter 12.  I love that it is about being young, and then being old.  It is about life.

Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, “I have no pleasure in them”

(The evil days?  With sin, came death.  Aging is slow death.  As I visit my aged and weary friend in the nursing home, I believe it is true.  These are evil days for her, those at the declining end of a long  life).

While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain;

(All is bright when we are young.  There are long sunny days full of promise stretching out before us, but later we begin to be aware of the darkening clouds of approaching old-age).

In the day when the keepers of the house (the hands) shall tremble, and the strong men (legs) shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few (teeth don’t work so well when there are gaps between them, they are meant to work as a full set)

And those that look out of the windows be darkened. (Eyesight fails).

And the doors shall be shut in the streets when the sound of the grinding is low.  (Besides loss of teeth in old age, there is also loss of hearing)..

And he shall rise up at the voice of the bird .  (The elderly do not sleep well, and often wake up in the early hours of morning unable to go back to sleep)  and all the daughters of music shall be brought low (can no longer hear the various musical notes and sounds)

Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high (fear of falling because they are unsteady on their feet), and fears shall be in the way (may become confused even on a familiar road)

And the almond tree shall flourish (almond blossoms are silvery-white, like the hair of an elderly person)

And the grasshopper shall be a burden (how much does a grasshopper weigh, a gram? Weakness makes light burdens heavy).

And desire shall fail (as one ages and physically declines, they may begin to disengage, lose interest, become depressed)

Because man goeth to his long (eternal) home, and the mourners go about the streets;

Or ever the silver cord be loosed (the hypothetical tether that connects our spirit to our physical body) or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain (both refer to receptacles which can  no longer serve to contain any substance, as a body with no pulse) , or the wheel broken at the cistern (once the wheel is broken, the cistern is inaccessible and it’s stored water will evaporate, leaving no traces it was ever there).

Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, all is vanity.

Ecclesiastes is about the fact that even living life to the fullest, enjoying all life has to offer, will be no comfort when it is all said and done, for the only value and purpose to be found in Earthly existence is in pursuing God, learning of Him and living in obedience to Him.

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil.

Thou shalt rise up before the greyheaded, and honour the face of the old man, .and fear thy God: I am the LORD. Leviticus 19:32

Life’s Little Things

"Little Flower" (Photo Credit: Ashley Davis)

Life’s Little Things

I didn’t know sweet tiny flower

You looked just like a star

But since I’m down on my knees

Down close to where you are

I see the beauty in your face

That closeness will release

Yes things look mighty different

When you’re down upon your knees

This tiny ant, I notice here

Is always going strong

He’s back and forth from morn ’til night

And working all day long

He is so insignificant

One seldom even sees

Unless one takes the trouble to

Get down upon his knees

Sometimes we’re very thoughtless

When we’re faced with storms and strife

Which seems to be the lot of all

Who struggle through this life

I wonder if in careless haste

I’ve trampled such as these?

If so, I’d never been so rue

Had I been upon my knees

Do we uncaring, unconcerned

Denounce our fellow-man

Forgetting Jesus died for all

T’ was in our Father’s plan?

We’d not presume He died for us

And not for all of these

If we would spend more time in prayer

Right down upon our knees

I wonder when our Lord looks down

From heaven up above

How very small we’d look to Him

Without His wonderous love?

But Jesus is compassionate

When a humble heart He sees

He knows what Love can do for us

When we’re down upon our knees.

Copyright 1965 Mary Catherine Thompson,

Hinton West Virgina

(my grandmother)

Ecclesiastes 12

I love Ecclesiastes. Especially chapter 12.  I love that it is about being young, and then being old.  It is about life.

Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, “I have no pleasure in them”

(The evil days?  With sin, came death.  Aging is slow death.  As I visit my aged and weary friend in the nursing home, I believe it is true.  These are evil days for her, those at the declining end of a long  life).

While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain;

(All is bright when we are young.  There are long sunny days full of promise stretching out before us, but later we begin to be aware of the darkening clouds of approaching old-age).

In the day when the keepers of the house (the hands) shall tremble, and the strong men (legs) shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few (teeth don’t work so well when there are gaps between them, they are meant to work as a full set)

And those that look out of the windows be darkened. (Eyesight fails).

And the doors shall be shut in the streets when the sound of the grinding is low.  (Besides loss of teeth in old age, there is also loss of hearing)..

And he shall rise up at the voice of the bird .  (The elderly do not sleep well, and often wake up in the early hours of morning unable to go back to sleep)  and all the daughters of music shall be brought low (can no longer hear the various musical notes and sounds)

Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high (fear of falling because they are unsteady on their feet), and fears shall be in the way (may become confused even on a familiar road)

And the almond tree shall flourish (almond blossoms are silvery-white, like the hair of an elderly person)

And the grasshopper shall be a burden (how much does a grasshopper weigh, a gram? Weakness makes light burdens heavy).

And desire shall fail (as one ages and physically declines, they may begin to disengage, lose interest, become depressed)

Because man goeth to his long (eternal) home, and the mourners go about the streets;

Or ever the silver cord be loosed (the hypothetical tether that connects our spirit to our physical body) or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain (both refer to receptacles which can  no longer serve to contain any substance, as a body with no pulse) , or the wheel broken at the cistern (once the wheel is broken, the cistern is inaccessible and it’s stored water will evaporate, leaving no traces it was ever there).

Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, all is vanity.

Ecclesiastes is about the fact that even living life to the fullest, enjoying all life has to offer, will be no comfort when it is all said and done, for the only value and purpose to be found in Earthly existence is in pursuing God, learning of Him and living in obedience to Him.

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil.

One Perfect Day

We climbed atop the meadow hill

And looked down on the town

We walked beneath the apple trees

And bent their branches down

We sniffed their sweetness, let them go

And ran to race the stream

It laughed at us, so we sat down

To look, and rest, and dream.

Then we went around the bend

Where sweet the violets grew

And cool winds came and kissed our cheeks

And bade us welcome too.

“I love you mummy”, Jerry cried

I answered with a kiss,

And prayed, “God give all mothers

One perfect day like this”

 

Charlotte “Teagie” Markell 1935 Better Homes and Gardens

Sweetness In The Moment

Life is, no doubt, bittersweet.  Circumstances conspire to undo our peace.  But if we choose to develop our taste for sweet, we may soon find that the bitter looses it’s savor.  Clichés become clichés for a reason.  There is timeless truth in them.  In our self-oriented quest to be unique, we reject the cliché out of hand.  But after living a while, we become tired of the effort to prove our individuality, and begin to wake up to our need for others.

Accentuate the positive.  Even if you can’t eliminate the negative.  Don’t enumerate all the things that have gone wrong.  Look for things that went right.

All the flavors of life were given for a reason.  How much more delicious is that morning honey bun, when the coffee hits the palate.  Sweet, chased by bitter.  Life is in the contrasts.

If you stare at a speck long enough, it will disappear.  Your mind gets tired of the straining.  When all we see in life is life’s pain and ugliness, we become numb.

Seek good.

Point it out to others when you find it.  Thank God for it.  Look for the splatters of joy, and gather them into a boquet!

Make it the centerpiece of your day, and let the fragrance permeate so even as you face today’s challenges there will be a subtle wafting of the aroma of blessing lifting up your heart.

Copyright STLloyd 2009