Awaiting my change

 
Appreciate your youth, where noise is resounding,
possessing strong bodies, energy abounding,
copious bright prospects drift on the offing;
bright is the light, the sun, moon and stars,
no clouds follow rain, deep breath reservoirs,
unplagued by wheezing and coughing.

For rapidly approaches unchecked ephemerality,
strong men bow low; dimmed windows portend sure mortality
when one rises early at the sound of a bird;
exhaustion comes quickly, recovery protracted,
the almond tree blossoms, conversations redacted,
when aches grasp new life in The Word.

Day by day brings decay, the outward man perishes,
his strength is dried up, resting he cherishes,
awaiting his ultimate change;
where the sun never sets, the new man in full bloom,
realizing reality, escaping due doom
death for life his exchange.

Be admonished by these, making books has no end,
much study is a wearisome, meditation a friend;
let not anxiety cause you to fall.
Hear the conclusion, set free all attachments:
“Fear God and keep His commandments”,
For this acquiescence is man's all.

1/9/2022

Ecclesiastes 12:1-14
Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth,
Before the difficult days come,
And the years draw near when you say,
"I have no pleasure in them":
While the sun and the light,
The moon and the stars,
Are not darkened,
And the clouds do not return after the rain; 
In the day when the keepers of the house tremble,
And the strong men bow down;
When the grinders cease because they are few,
And those that look through the windows grow dim; 
When the doors are shut in the streets,
And the sound of grinding is low;
When one rises up at the sound of a bird,
And all the daughters of music are brought low;
Also they are afraid of height,
And of terrors in the way;
When the almond tree blossoms,
The grasshopper is a burden,
And desire fails.
For man goes to his eternal home,
And the mourners go about the streets.

Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed,
Or the golden bowl is broken,
Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain,
Or the wheel broken at the well.
Then the dust will return to the earth as it was,
And the spirit will return to God who gave it.

"Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "All is vanity."
 And moreover, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yes, he pondered and sought out and set in order many proverbs.

The Preacher sought to find acceptable words; and what was written was upright--words of truth. 
The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd.

And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh.

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.