Have you ever Googled yourself?
You know what I mean.
You ever gone to Google and typed in your name to see what the internet world was saying,
!
Well, I'll admit I Google myself from time to time.
Now, mind you, I have legitimate reasons, some of which are not tied to my personal vanity.
For example, as an author, I want to see if anyone has interacted with the books or the
articles I've written.
Perhaps someone's written a scathing review on Reformation20warf1.org.
I especially want to see if there's something current.
So from time to time, I type in Douglas Sean O'Donnell, make sure my wife isn't looking,
and then I click the past 24 hours option.
Sad but true.
Well, a few weeks ago when I did this, the first hit I got was, guess what?
Amazon?
No.
Facebook?
No.
The first hit I got was IrishDeaths.com.
Well, needless to say, I clicked on the website to see if I was still alive.
And thankfully, I didn't find myself on the list.
The long list of Irish people who had recently died.
A 57-year-old man has died following an assault in Dublin early yesterday.
A woman in her late 30s has been killed after being struck by a car in County Tipperary last night.
Frank Kelly, the actor best known for playing the foul-mouthed priest, Father Jack, has died at the age of 77.
Former assistant county manager George Redman has died following a short illness.
Redman was 92.
Police in Belfast are investigating after the discovery of a body in a McDonald's in the city center last Thursday night.
A teenage girl has been killed this afternoon following a collision involving a truck in West Dublin.
A 13-year-old boy in Kildare has drowned after attempting to rescue a friend who fell in a river.
Death.
It doesn't matter if you're 92 or 13.
It doesn't matter if you're Irish, Irish-American, Australian, Welsh, and even English.
It doesn't matter if you're male.
It doesn't matter if you're female.
Death doesn't play favorites.
Illness, car wrecks, drowning, murder, death will eventually get us all.
And therefore, never send a no for whom the bell tolls.
It tolls for thee.
Now just so you know, before you say, what is this?
Who on earth invited this demented and dour American to speak for this otherwise lovely and enjoyable evening service?
Before you say that, before you think such thoughts, I need to tell you that I have been assigned this topic.
Well, not precisely.
Paul didn't ask me to talk on death, but he approved me speaking on Ecclesiastes.
And it's the same thing as saying, hey, Doug, why don't you come and speak on death?
So tonight, per my assignment, if not from Paul, definitely from God, from God's word, from this too often neglected part of God's word,
I want to give you a brief sermon, brief meaning less than an hour, on what the book of Ecclesiastes has to say on death.
What I've entitled, what I've entitled, lively, lively thoughts on death.
I say lively because I hope it will make for a lively discussion afterwards.
But also lively because I hope that these thoughts on death and on dying will help you and me know how to live.
So if you open your Bibles again, we're going to look at Ecclesiastes.
We'll look at all of chapter 11 and then also into 12, verses 1 through 8.
The structure, Ecclesiastes is a difficult book to kind of outline, but the structure and the key ideas of this text are actually quite obvious.
Put simply, it is this, if you kind of go backwards.
While you're young, that's what's said in chapter 12, 1 through 8.
While you're young, then go backwards, verses 7 through 10 and 11.
Fear God, then keep going backwards, 1 through 6.
Serve others.
I'll put it more precisely, it's this.
Before the impending evil days of old age and death strike you like a cosmic thunderstorm, while you're still young, while you're still living,
work hard in order to give generously to others.
And enjoy life in light of your Creator and your Judge.
And we're going to start with the evil days ahead.
The real depressing stuff.
The stuff that is intended to depress us into dependence on God.
And so look at 12, 1 through 8.
As these verses were just read, I'm not going to read them again.
I'm just going to explain them and apply them.
These verses are filled with beautiful imagery about a harsh reality.
And the attention of the imagery is emotional engagements.
Instead of merely saying that everyone gets old and dies and it ain't fun,
Koalef, or Pastor Solomon as I like to call him,
he uses images to get us to see and hear and smell and taste and touch our depressing decay.
He starts with his picture of old age, the image of an impending and vicious storm.
Verse 2.
Before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain.
Now the sun.
The sun is mentioned up at this point 34 times in Ecclesiastes.
Now in its final time mention, its final scene,
the sun along with all the other celestial lights, it takes a bow.
It's done.
It's pitch black.
That's what we're to see here or not see.
Using apocalyptic imagery that is strikingly similar to what the prophets used,
describing the last day,
Solomon heightens the personal tragedy of a person's death
by comparing it to the great day of God's cosmic judgment.
As in the end of the world, creation will be unmade,
so the end of our human life is in the sense that our life is unmade.
Our end time is like the end time.
When you die, as one commentator put it,
a world is ending.
Yours.
Now from the black sky in verse 2,
the imagery descends down to earth in verses 3 through 6,
describing the haunting effects of death.
Verse 7 summarizes the sad situation.
We're all going to die.
The dust returns to the earth as it was.
The spirit returns to God who gave us.
But before that happens,
bodily frailties increase as we age.
What was once vibrant,
but now unattended,
like an unattended state,
our hands and our legs and our teeth and our eyes and our ears,
our vocal cords,
our hair,
they all start to deteriorate.
In old age,
our hands,
which once provided for living and protection,
they now shake.
Verse 3.
In the day when the keepers of the house tremble,
our legs can't support the weight of our bodies for long,
the strong men are bent.
Our remaining teeth can't chew food like they used to.
The grinders cease because they are few.
Our vision declines.
Those who look through the windows are dimmed.
And if all that wasn't bad enough,
there are other awful issues with old age.
For example,
when we want our ears to work well,
they don't.
We can't even hear ourselves chew.
And the doors of the street are shut when the sound of the grinding is low.
But when we would want deafness,
our ears work just fine.
And one rises up at the sound of a bird.
Some of you know all too palpable.
It's being described here.
Moreover,
we can't sing like we used to.
Our vocal cords no longer have the elastic strength
to make sweet music,
to hit the high notes.
And all the daughters of song,
that's your vocal cords,
are brought low.
Finally,
before we die,
we go to what he calls our eternal home.
And people mourn for us.
The mourners go about in the streets.
Our hair turns gray or white.
The almond tree blossoms.
Nice way to say it.
We lose our mobility.
And we painfully get around.
The grasshopper drags itself along.
Our motivation to work.
Our appetite for food.
Our sex drive diminishes.
Desire falls.
The fear of falling.
And of other dangers increase.
They are afraid also of what is high.
And the terrors are in the way.
And then,
and then the moment comes.
What was once beautiful,
precious,
useful,
and life-giving
is destroyed.
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.
Light crashes to the ground.
And life,
it spills out like water.
Life is broken beyond repair.
Death is final
and irreversible.
In the movie Rembrandt,
Ecclesiastes is featured
in the movie's final two scenes.
The movie follows the life
of the artist Rembrandt.
From the time of his considerable wealth
and established reputation
to his final years
where he lived,
as the film depicts,
in relative obscurity.
Rembrandt lost his wife,
his fortune,
and much of his fame.
In the second to final scene,
he enters a tavern.
After the young men in the tavern
give their toast,
they say,
to beauty,
to woman,
to youth,
to love,
to money.
They turn to the artist
who they didn't recognize
as Rembrandt,
and they ask,
they said,
what about you, Grandpa?
You haven't given your toast.
He responds,
I can't think of a toast.
The crowd insists,
for they had seen him
mumbling something
into his glass,
and Rembrandt replies,
that wasn't a toast,
and those weren't my words.
They were the words
of King Solomon.
They're the best words I know.
And then he quotes
four different verses
from Ecclesiastes,
including 12.8.
Vanity of vanities,
all is vanity.
And the tavern erupts
in laughter.
Now the final scene
depicts Rembrandt alone
in his studio.
He's completing
his self-portrait
by looking into
a cracked mirror.
Through the mirror,
the camera
focuses on his face.
He pauses,
he stares at himself,
and then he says
the film's last words,
Vanity of vanity,
all is vanity.
When my family lived
in Chicago,
in our upstairs bathroom,
there was a vanity mirror.
Our vanity mirror
had three planes of glass
and two on the side,
so you can get a whole view
of who you are.
Ecclesiastes is kind of
like that mirror.
Ecclesiastes 12,
1 through 8 especially.
It's just two sides
of things that we're to see.
On one side,
we're to see the utter
fleetingness of life.
And on this side,
there's our reflection of God.
We're in the image of God.
There's something important
about that.
It gives both of those
truths to us.
The first perspective
comes post-poem,
after the poem.
It's after these verses,
2 through 7.
After this brilliant,
exquisite,
seven-verse sentence,
it gives this bleak ending
in verse 8.
Vanity of vanity,
says the preacher,
all is vanity.
This is the final time
vanity is used.
I taught the children today
the Hebrew word
havel is what it is.
You breathe in,
you breathe out.
Havel.
That's what it's like.
Hevel.
Vanity.
It's like breath
coming out of you
and going in the air
and disappearing.
38 times.
And it's echoed here
at the end of the book
and at the beginning
of the book.
Vanity of vanities,
chapter 1,
verse 2,
says the preacher,
vanity of vanities,
all is vanity.
In light of the description
of old age and death,
which we were just given,
this sense of vanity here
is a fleetingness.
Life is going to come
to an end too soon.
The second perspective,
then comes pre-paum,
the step before the poem.
Perhaps you notice
the word before,
before the evil days
come,
verse 1,
before the sun is dark
and loose too,
before the silver
cord is snapped,
verse 6.
Those three befores,
they push our eyes
to what comes
before the befores,
namely the command
in chapter 12,
verse 1,
remember your creator
in the days
of your youth.
Remember your creator
before you die.
You see,
meditation,
meditation on our end
should bring us to
in the beginning,
God.
We're to remember
our creator,
the one who made us
and continually gives us
good gifts
in the days of our youth
before we get to this point
in which we're at
such a point of old age
where everything's
sort of falling apart
until finally it crashes
before we die.
But how do we remember?
How do we remember
our creator
in the days
where we have vitality
in the days of our youth?
Well, we do so
by keeping his commandments.
That's how Ecclesiastes ends,
chapter 12,
verse 13.
And especially keeping
the great commandments,
loving God,
the greatest commandments,
loving God
and loving others.
Jesus said,
you shall love the Lord
your God
with all your heart
and your soul
and your mind
and you shall love
your neighbor as yourself.
And Pastor Solomon here
gives a very similar summary.
He exhorts us
to work hard
in order to give
generously to others,
love others.
That's what's said
in chapter 11,
1 through 6.
And then enjoy life
in light of your creator
and judge
your relationship with God,
loving God.
That's 7 through 10.
Now look with me
at chapter 11,
1 through 6.
Cast your bread
upon the waters
for you will find it
after many days.
Give a portion
to seven,
even to eight,
for you know not
what disaster may happen
on earth.
If the clouds
are full of rain,
they empty themselves
on the earth.
If a tree falls
to the south
or to the north
in the place
where the tree falls,
there it will lie.
He who observes
the wind
will not sow.
He who regards
the clouds
will not reap.
As you do not know
the way the spirit
comes to the bones
in the womb
of a woman
with child.
So you do not know
the work of God
who makes everything.
In the morning,
sow your seed.
In the evening,
withhold not your hand.
For you do not know
which will prosper,
this or that,
or whether both
alike will be good.
Now notice here,
there are four commandments
given.
They are,
cast your bread,
verse 1,
give a portion,
verse 2,
sow your seed,
verse 6a,
and do not withhold
your hand,
verse 6b.
Notice also the phrase
do not know.
Do not know.
You do not know.
It's repeated four times
in these verses.
We know something
about precipitation
and gravity.
If the clouds
are full of rain,
they empty themselves
upon the earth.
If a tree falls
to the south
or to the north
and the place
where the tree falls,
there it will lie.
Very impressive knowledge
that we have.
However,
there are some
limitations
to our knowledge.
And three limitations
are listed here.
Two have to do
with the future.
We don't know
when disaster
will strike,
verse 2.
We don't know
if we'll be prosperous
or not,
verse 6.
The other limitation
has to do with God.
Just as we don't
fully,
perfectly understand
how a baby
is formed
inside of a woman's womb.
Even with all
of our technology,
it's still quite a mystery
and amazing.
So we can't
comprehend
all that God does.
A few years ago,
I took my youngest son,
Simeon,
on a trip.
And we stayed
at this old,
refurbished granary
on a farm
of a friend of mine.
And at night,
we made a fire
and we warmed
ourselves around it.
Around this cast-iron
wood-burning stove,
we had a fireside
checked.
And I don't know
how that conversation
got to the topic
of heaven and hell,
but it did.
Stranger things
happen when you
hang out with me.
Anyway,
Simeon asked,
what happens
to babies
who die
in a mommy's tummy?
The question
took me by surprise.
Not in the sense
that I hadn't
heard it before,
but that it was
coming from
my seven-year-old son.
So I fumbled around
and I said
something like,
well,
whatever happens,
remember that
God is merciful.
And Simeon replied,
yeah,
maybe he brings
them to heaven.
Then he shrugged
his shoulders
and he says,
who knows?
Wise people learn
to say,
who knows,
to a lot of questions.
However,
wise people also learn
to labor diligently
in spite of our
lack of knowledge.
You see,
if you put together
the commandments
here to work,
cast,
give,
so,
withhold not your
hand,
with these statements
of ignorance,
you do not know,
you do not know.
What do you get?
Well,
you get this,
work diligently
in spite of your
lack of knowledge.
Put differently,
let God take care
of his mysteries
and let us take care
of our work.
The irony is that
our limitations
should not lead us
to despair
or to sloth,
but rather
they should lead us
to investment
and to industry.
verses 4 and 6
especially touch
on this theme.
Verse 4 reads,
He who observes
the wind
will not sow
and he who regards
the clouds
will not reap.
And I'll paraphrase,
if you're watching
the Weather Channel
all day for the
perfect weather,
no wind,
no clouds,
for the time
you're going to
plant your crops,
well,
you will never,
ever leave the sofa.
So stop the sloth.
Put off procrastinating.
Ignorance is no excuse
for idleness.
Trust God,
get off your duff
and obey.
Verse 6,
In the morning,
sow your seed.
At evening,
withhold not your hand.
Work all day.
Put in a full week.
Not 24-7,
but 12-6.
Why?
For you do not know
which will prosper,
this or that,
or both alike.
We cannot know
all the works of God.
The wind blows
where it wishes,
as Jesus said.
But we can know
that our sovereign God
wants us to work.
So let's work.
Now,
industry is great,
and the wisdom literature
persistently
rolls us out of bed
and pushes us
off the sofa.
However,
biblical industry
centers not on self,
but on others.
We work for the benefit
of others.
Note that.
Don't forget that.
Look again at verses 1 and 2.
Chapter 11.
Cast your bread
upon the waters,
for you will find it
after many days.
Give a portion
to seven,
or even to eight,
for you know not
what disaster may happen
on earth.
The images here
are actually
of fearless generosity.
Fearless generosity.
The casting of bread
upon the waters
is an image
of complete commitment
and courage.
It is likely
that the image here
of tossing
a stale,
hard,
easy to float
piece of pita bread
on a river
is not that
of a careless risk,
but it's actually
that of a calculated one.
You know you're going
to find it.
And that confidence
is expressed
in the phrase,
you will find it
after many days.
And many commentators
think here actually
the bread image
on the water
represents ancient
sea trade.
For example,
if you wanted
to sail from Palestine
to Italy and back,
it was a very perilous
but a very profitable
enterprise.
Even if one of three ships
you sent
made it to port
and sold its cargo
and received goods
and brought them back
to trade,
the whole venture
was worth it.
The profit was enormous.
And I think the point here
of this whole bread analogy
is,
in verse one,
is nothing ventured,
nothing gained.
To borrow just the
traditional investment slogan.
And then verse two follows.
Give a portion then.
After you've invested,
give a portion.
To seven,
or even to eight.
For you don't know
what disaster might happen
on earth.
Now this verse might speak
of just spreading the risk.
However,
I think it deals with
diversifying
your earnings,
not your investments.
I say that because
it's imperative to give.
We're to give
a portion of seven,
no,
even eights.
If we gain from
courageous investments,
we're to give
just as courageously.
Why?
For you know not
what disaster
may happen on earth.
And if Jesus'
parable here,
if the rich fool
comes to mind,
it should,
because it's almost
the same point.
Instead of making money
so as to hoard it,
we're to spend it
on others.
We're to spend it
on others because
we never know
if this very day
our soul might be
required of us.
So don't lay up
treasure for yourself.
Be rich towards God
by richly giving
to others.
Before it's too late,
divide your earnings.
Seven,
no,
make it eight ways.
It's the better
than perfect,
seven being the
perfect number,
seven,
perfect way to live.
It's the perfect way
to give.
Listen,
we don't know much.
We do not know,
we do not know,
we do not know.
However,
as Christians,
we do know this.
We know the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ
that though he was rich,
yet for your sake
he became poor
so that you
by his poverty
might become rich.
So as our humble creator,
remember your creator
in the days of youth,
and Savior,
humbly served us
through the sacrifice
of the cross,
let us be of the same mind
as Paul said.
Let us put first
the interests of others.
Let us not be wicked
and slothful servants
as in Jesus' parable
of the talents,
but good and faithful ones.
People who serve others
by sharing,
sharing what God
has entrusted to us.
Let us give bountifully
in order to give freely.
Let us do honest work
with our own hands
as Paul puts it,
so that we may have
something to share
with those in need.
Let us be venture capitalists
for the kingdom of God.
Let us,
as John Wesley put it,
make all we can,
save all we can,
and give all we can.
It's industry.
Industry for others.
Now,
adding to this industry
is our enjoyment.
Look at verses 7 and 8.
Verse 7 says,
Light is sweet,
and it is pleasant
for the eyes
to see the sun.
That is,
it's good to be alive.
Poetic way of saying that.
Verse 8 continues,
So if a person lives
many years,
let him rejoice
in them all.
And then that theme
of joy just continues
in the next few verses.
Verse 9 begins,
Rejoice,
O young man,
in your youth,
and let not your heart
cheer you,
but let your heart
cheer you in the days
of your youth.
And verse 10 begins
with basically the same command,
just said a little differently.
Remove vexation,
that is remove unhappiness,
sorrow from your heart.
And he's not saying here,
don't worry,
be happy,
but he's saying,
be happy.
He's saying that.
Be happy,
rejoice.
Rejoice.
In a Calvin and Hobbes
comic strip,
Bill Waters
in the cartoonist,
he shows the boy,
Calvin,
and his tiger,
Hobbes,
they're sitting
with their backs
on the ground
with their backs
on a tree.
In the first frame,
Calvin leans forward
and he says,
I don't understand
this business
about death.
In the second frame,
the drawing focuses
entirely on him
and his arms
are stretched out
like this
and he asks,
if we're just going to die,
what's the point
of living?
The third frame
shows them
staring straight
at the reader
with baffled looks
on their faces.
They're silent.
They have nothing
to say in that frame.
And finally,
we come to the fourth
and final frame
that the answer
comes from hungry
and humorous Hobbes.
He says,
well,
there's seafood.
The answer,
well,
there's seafood,
is not the answer
the Bible gives,
but it's not
as far off
as you might think.
In Ecclesiastes,
one of the responses
to the reality
of death
is to rejoice
in life.
Go eat your bread
and joy.
Drink your wine
with a merry heart.
Let your garments
be always white.
Let oil not be lacking
on your head.
Enjoy life.
Whatever your hand
finds to do,
do it with all your might.
You see,
in the most depressing
book in the Bible,
that's Ecclesiastes,
you find six
enjoyments
exhortations,
like the one
you just heard.
We can,
if we trust God,
if we trust our creator,
the one who is
in control
of this exceedingly
complex universe,
we can then rejoice.
We can rejoice
in what he does
and what we do.
In his brilliant poem,
Memento Mori,
U.S. poet,
laureate,
Billy Collins,
begins,
it doesn't take much
to remind me
what a soap bubble
I am
floating over
a children's party.
Then later,
he shifts.
He shifts his thought
from human transience
to human delight.
And he concludes
the poem in this way.
And the realization
that no one
who is ever
breast of the water
of times
has figured out
a way to avoid dying
always pulls me
by the rains
and settles me down
by the roadside,
grateful for the sweet weeds
and the mouthful,
mouthfuls of colorful
wildflowers.
You see,
we can respond
to the reality
of death
with cynicism.
Life is just
a dirty trick
from nothingness
to nothingness.
Hemingway.
Or with resentment
at the end of it all.
I have time at last
to consider
my life
its stubby,
stale,
and updike.
And updike.
Or,
we can follow
another poem.
We can take joy.
Take joy.
We can take
all the reminders
of our mortality
and use them
to motivate us
to rejoice now.
To rejoice
in what we see.
To rejoice
in what we do.
To rejoice
in who we are.
What we've been given.
Yes,
to rejoice
even in seafood
and steak
and weeds
and wildflowers.
You see,
the book of Ecclesiastes
teaches us
that death
with all of its bitterness
can also be
an impetus
to remind us
to celebrate
what we have.
To celebrate life.
Rejoice,
O young man,
in your youth.
And let your heart
cheer you
in the days of your youth.
Walk in the ways
of your heart
and the sight
of your eyes.
But know
that for all these things
God will bring you
into judgment.
Remove vexation
from your heart.
Put away pain
from your body
for youth
and the dawn of life
are fleeting.
Then 12.1,
Remember.
Remember also
your creator
in the days
of your youth
before evil days
come
and years
draw near
to which you will say
I have no pleasure
in them.
Why if we know
that the evil days
are coming
old age
is coming
and with that
dying
and eventually
death
why can we
enjoy life?
What motives
are given?
Again,
the motive
of time
is mentioned
in verse 10.
We should remove
vexation
because youth
the dawn of life
is vanity.
In other words
life is short lived.
But there is
a new motivation
and a central motivation
also given here
and that is God.
God is our creator
chapter 12.1
but God is also
our judge.
11.9
Rejoice in your youth
walk in the ways
of your heart
but know that
God is going to
bring everything
into judgment.
And a judgment
here could just
refer to death.
I think though
because in Hebrew
there is a definite
article
it is the judgment
I think it envisions
the day of judgment
the day of judgment.
So what is going on here?
Well some people think
that the coming
judgment of God
it stifles
it chokes
our freedom
and our fun.
But that's precisely
the opposite way
that Solomon
sees it.
It is rather
due to God's
judgment
that we can live
life fully
to the end.
Because we are all
marching towards
old age
and death
and the judgments
we can enjoy food.
Ecclesiastes 2.25
Drink wine.
9.7
Love your spouse.
9.9
Take a break.
4.6
Pursue dancing
and laughter.
3.4
and 5
Appreciate money.
7.11
and 12
Take pleasures
in gardens
and music.
Chapter 2.5
and 8
Put differently
because you are
marching towards
God
who is not only
your creator
but will also
be your judge
we can rejoice
responsibly.
We can pursue
with all of our
hearts
as Paul puts it
righteousness
and faith
and love
and peace
the attitudes
and actions
that bring with
them genuine
joy.
Holiness
I have this
slogan I tell
myself over and
over
holiness leads
to happiness.
When I'm holy
when I'm in a
right relationship
with God
and others
when I'm loving
others
when I'm enjoying
the life that
God has given
me
it actually
it makes me
full
it satiates
my soul
as I said
this morning
an endless
indulgence
it always leads
to misery
endless misery
eventually.
You see
walking the
ways of
your heart
here
is not
romanticism
it's actually
biblicism
to neglect
God is to
neglect joy
God has
designed us
for pleasure
to enjoy
all the
pleasures
that come
from being
faithful to
him
and his
rules
so remember
him
fear him
and in a sense
watch the
freedom
follow
watch the
fun
follow
he's designed
us for this
that he is
our creator
and our
judge
Samuel Beckett
in 1969
he wrote
a play
called
Breath
if you know
anything about it
you know
that it is
unusually short
it lasts
35 seconds
I'll describe it
for you
that the
curtain opens
there on the
stage is a
pile of
rubbish
illuminated by
a single
light
the light
dims
then it
brightens a
little
before
completely
going out
there are
no actors
there's no
words
there's only
a soundtrack
of a human
cry
followed by
an inhaled
breath
an exhaled
breath
and another
cry
and that's
it
I'm sorry
if it comes
to London
you shouldn't
go see it
because I've
given away
the plot
but don't
miss this
point
don't pass
on this
whether you're
a modernist
who disliked
Christianity
like Beckett
or you're a
post-modernist
who likes
Christianity
whoever you
are
whatever you
are
for all of
us the
dark days
are coming
life will
be gone
sooner than
you ever
imagined
it will
seem like
35 seconds
of breath
34
33
32
10
9
8
3
2
1
0
so then
what would
it do
put on
wisdom
would it
put on
the lasting
and profound
wisdom
that's taught
here in
Ecclesiastes
before these
days come
before the
impending
evil days
of old age
and death
strike you
like a
cosmic
thunderstorm
while you're
still young
work hard
in order to
give generously
to others
and enjoy
life in
light of
your creator
and in
light of
your judge
let's pray
ending