“Man’s days in this world are few”

Man’s days in this world are few,
As a summer wind that passes in the day, they are gone,
For all those years of labour,
Of joy, and of love and hardship, of celebration and toil,
End suddenly when we least expect it,                                    5
And we depart to dwell among those that sleep,
Where our dreams are pleasant and nightmares are gone.
There we all may dwell until the end of things,
For death is a storm which we cannot avoid at present.
It shall sweep over the world time and time again,                              10
Striking us with its lightning bolts,
Claiming us sometimes when we are in our prime.
The Lord gives and he takes away.
Death is not always fair,
It ends the list of things a person did in the past,                              15
And it leaves whatever potential left over unfilled.
The good often die while the wicked live on.
The good often suffer while the wicked thrive
However, what will be will be
Surely as we received life at our appointed time,                              20            
Surely we will most likely receive death.
We need not to fear death though,
Nor be angry at it,
For by the death of Christ,
Death itself yielded into submission,                                          25
It’s power being only temporary over us.
It failed to keep down Lazarus in the grave,
And so shall it be with us.
When our dust is reformed to make bones
And upon these bones shall come flesh and blood,                              30
And all that the Lord bestowed upon us over time.
Then the dead will come out of their graves,
Being no long dead – but living –
Every worthy soul from the beginning of time
Up through the present, on into the future,                                    35
Amongst them not only the patriarchs,
The prophets, the martyrs, the apostles,
Whose names history writes in stone,
But the common man and all who did right
In the eyes of the Lord our God.                                          40
Our robes shall be white as theirs.
There we shall be reunited with those we lost,
And the Son of Man
Whose robes are whitest amongst God’s creation,
And our past pains shall fade into nothing.                                    45
     Peace and happiness shall be with us all,
When God is with us,
And we are together throughout eternity,
All our grief is coming to an end.
Then the girfs will dance and be happy, and men, young and old, will rejoice,      50
According to the word of Jeremiah.
Your days of grief will come to an end,
However, a long time prior to those incidents,
For you shall remember him as living,
Since only his body is deceased.                                          55
His life is what shall be on your lips
More than his death,
Since history concerns itself in general
With a figure’s existence in this world
Over the loss of it.                                                      60
     Your focus shall be on what used to be
Concerning him in this world,
And not on how he is gone from us.
Of course, you’le remember his death
From time to time,                                                      65
And you’le have your time to mourn and weep.
They shall pass as dew on the grass
When the morning star tolls the early daylight hours,
And you shall then dwell on your time together
And become joyful of the fact                                          70
That those days will continue when
The King of the Universe will raise us up to a life everlasting made new.
Then you shall have all time to dance and laugh,
Keeping him alive in your heart,
As you move on in your life                                                75
When the present overcomes the past.
The good times you’le share with many,
Not just with those of your family and blood.
When you do that task
And make anecdotes of his life in heaven,                                    80
You’le feel his presence amongst you,
And know that he is still one of the living in spirit
And will be again, in flesh and bone and blood.
Therefore, rejoice in the Lord
In whom all things are possible,                                          85
For those tears you bear upon your face
Shall dry p similar to water in a desert,
And Ted shall return to you,
Alongside of generations who went before him,
Fathers and mothers,                                                      90
Sisters, brothers, and cousins;
People you never knew, but who are your family,
From the diaspora across the globe
Of the human race, since mankind came out of Eden.
     Few of the many whose history is unwritten,                              95
So peace be with you throughout all your days,
With strife banned from it for the most parts,
Joyful occasions comprising an abudance of life period.
Remember, that the Creator does not place
Upon us more trials than we can bear and overcome.                        100
     Take heed of Job as an example,
Who lost his family, his health, and his property,
But did not turn from His Majesty –
But only complained of his own current situation.
You have heard of the patience of Job,                                    105
And you know how the Lord provided for
Him in the end.
So shall He provide for you as well,
Though His hand you may not see
Hidden in the human action,                                                110
Warmth and comfort to calm what ails you,
Who may be angered that
The Lord took your love one away
From you and brought him home
To join in the chorus of the heavenly host                                    115
Who praise the Father in heaven
And meet together in the heavenly assembly,
Proclaiming to the universe,
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts:
The whole earth is full of His glory.”                                    120
Therefore, turn your mind to the future
Instead of the present;
Concern yourself with what truly matters:
The life that is to come.
The sun is yet to set upon your existence                                    125
So be happy while you’re living still,
Joyful that more time is left
For you to enjoy this realm.
Let not sadness dominate your days before the end.
Built strong and mighty as a great ship                                    130
Prepared for a voyage lengthy and tiresome
Is your current sadness,
But let not it depart from its dock.
Blow upon the ark and cause it to be consumed by fire.
Halt it being constructed for a second time.                                    135
Think pleasant thoughts of his graduation,
Yet remember your life with him,
The joys and the griefs,
And everything else in between.
Remember his life with those of us                                          140
Who hardly had a chance to know him,
But who still loved him just the same,
That we may share in the life he wrought
While he dwelt upon the earth and conversed with man.
“Christ died on the Cross,”                                                145
As Kazantzakis wrote in Greek, “and at that instant death was vanquished forever.”
Take not of those words, and forget them not,
And continue to live your life according to the way of God.
Keep ascending and stray not onto the level road of man,
Which is built upon:                                                      150
Pride, avarice, lust, anger, sloth, gluttony, envy;
Cowardice and vanity, curses and offences.
Those things bind a person to the world,
And makes them no better than beasts.
Avoid them the best you are able and keep faith in Our Father,                  155
Who knowest best for us;
Quit not in service to him.
Serve him righteously, as did your beloved,
So both of you may praise His Majesty in heaven.
Fail not then at all in any or that aspect –                                    160
At least make an attempt at it,
For God loves tryers –
So deprive neither of your company.
Be at peace with the world,
For you are in the presence of the Lord always.                              165
Just quiet your mind and you will feel Him.
Do what you are driven to do and he will be there;
And He will allow for you to feel your beloved’s presence
Alongside you, as well.
     You are never alone;                                                170
No matter how lost or solitary you may
Find yourself being from time to time.
You are never alone.
You are not just one in billions;
Our Lord hears us all;                                                      175
He loves us all, and cares for us all.
He assists in our growth from the moment of our creation.
He will listen to us, if we listen to Him.
He will assist us, if we are willing to assist in His purpose.
If we acknowledge the Lord, He will acknowledge us.                        180
If we are not ashamed of Him, then He will not be at all
Ashamed of His subjects.
     The Lord will have faith in us to accomplish righteous acts,
If we will have faith in Him to accomplish anything:
To rule over us justly and see to it                                          185
That the wicked receive the justice due to them.
Fret not over what we cannot control, such as
Who shall live and who shall die,
For only someone greater than humanity
Can make such a difficult decision honestly day after day.                        190
Just deal with life as it evolves on its journey,
No matter how difficult the steps may be to your feet –
The soreness, the tiredness…balderdash are they both!
Ignore them and travel until you reach your destination
In the city of gold and jasper,                                                195
Lit by the radiance of His Majesty and His lamp,
Whose eternal flame shall never burn out.
Glory be to God in the highest.
Peace be with you always until
The Unborn, Undying Himself ceases to be.                                    200

     Amen.