Forever Young
One of my favorite songs is “Forever Young” sang by Rod Stewart. I don’t know if he wrote it, but he sings it. There is another song with the same title and theme sang by Bob Dylan. But Stewart’s is my favorite.
May the Good Lord be with you
down every road you roam
And may sunshine and happiness
surround you when you’re far from home
And may you grow to be proud, dignified, and true
And do unto others as you would have done to you
Be courageous and be brave
And in my heart you’ll always stay
Forever young
May good fortune be with you,
may your guiding light be strong
Build a stairway to heaven with a prince or a vagabond
And may you never love in vain
And in my heart you will remain
For ever young
And when you fin’lly fly away I’ll be hopin’
that I served ya well
For all the wisdom of a lifetime no one can ever tell
But whatever road ya choose
I’m right behind you, win or lose
For ever young.
Would it that we could all be forever young. Ponce de Leon begged and persuaded the king of Spain to grant him men and ships to search for the infamous “fountain of youth”. According to myth whoever drank of its water would be forever young. In his unwise quest, he became the European discoverer of Florida, which he named “Pascua de Florida” (feast of flowers) after the Spanish Easter holiday, he landed here on Easter Sunday. He explored the state between 1513 and 1521.
I woke up on the morning of Aug 31 to the terrible news of the death of Princess Diana (August 30, 1997) she was 36. I was stunned. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what to think. That kind of things didn’t just happened. For days and weeks there wasn’t any other news but the death of a princess in the prime of her life.
I never read the Diary of Ann Frank. But I saw the movie and I visited the place where her family hid during those terrible years from the Nazis. It was hard to believe that all those people managed to survive in such cramped quarters. She was barely a teenager when she perished in a concentration camp.
When I moved to this country I discovered American TV. That for me meant “Happy Days”, The Three Stooges and The Little Rascals. I even had the opportunity to meet one of The Little Rascals. One of them grew up to become an Adventist pastor. Through the magic of TV they are all children forever.
What can I say about a dozen of movie and rock stars that died young? One day, after a concert in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly chartered a small plane to get to the next town with some extra time to rest. On the morning of February 3rd, 1959, the plane carrying Buddy Holly, 23, Richard Valenzuela “Ritchie Valens”, 18, and Jay Perry Richardson “the Big Bopper”, 29, took off from Mason City, Iowa, and crashed after eight miles, killing everyone on board.
En route to compete in a race in Salinas, California, James Dean was killed in a highway accident on September 30, 1955. He was 24. Freddie Prinze (1954-1977), was a young, Latino stand-up comic who made people laugh in the popular 1970’s TV sitcom "Chico and the Man." Alas, Freddie shot himself at age 23, adding to the long list of Hollywood stars who died young.
Even Jesus didn’t reach old age.
They will always be young in our memory.
When we came to the DC area, my wife Denise decided to continue her studies and she registered at the University of Maryland. She asked me one day to help her with the registering process. I would stand in the next line so she wouldn’t spend so much time waiting. The system worked. As soon as she finished one line she would come to where I was in line and I would move to the next line. The last step was at the cashier’s. I was getting to the window just in time for Denise to join me with all her paperwork. The cashier looked at me and Denise and took her papers. As I took the check book to pay, and without looking at me, she said, “write your daughters social security number in the check”. We couldn’t hold it and bent over cracking up. As we left the registration area quite a few people were looking a us wondering what was up.
1 Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, "I find no pleasure in them"--
2 before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain;
3 when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men stoop, when the grinders cease because they are few, and those looking through the windows grow dim;
4 when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades; when men rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint;
5 when men are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags himself along and desire no longer is stirred. Then man goes to his eternal home and mourners go about the streets.
6 Remember him--before the silver cord is severed, or the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, or the wheel broken at the well,
7 and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
8 "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Everything is meaningless!" Ecclesiastes 12:1-8
1) Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”--
Remember your Creator —while we are growing up. While we still have hair on our head and all our teeth in our mouth. While we can get up in the morning without bodyaches and are able to walk without a cane. Why? Because the days of trouble are ahead.
2) before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain;
One of my favorite pastimes is to watch the weather channel. How the project the day and the week. With bands of color they show you the weather ahead. Think of these verses as the forecast channel. And it doesn’t look good. There are gloomy days ahead. As your strength fades, as your youth stays behind, you are confronted with the bitter outlook of an older person.
3) when the keepers of the house tremble —lips
and the strong men stoop —legs, lower back
when the grinders cease because they are few —teeth
and those looking through the windows grow dim; —eyes
the older we get the thicker the lens
4) when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades —lack of hearing
when men rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint; —insomnia
they go to bed at 10 and they are up by 4
5) when men are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets —phobias (we don’t do the things we used to do when we were younger)
when the almond tree blossoms —gray hairs
the grasshopper drags himself along —lost of digestive capability
desire is no longer is stirred [ the original Hebrew reads “the caper berry shall become ineffective”] —impotence
6) Remember him--before the silver cord is severed —a stroke
or the golden bowl is broken —loss of memory
before the pitcher is shattered at the spring —heart failure
or the wheel broken at the well, —circulatory problems
Timely reminder: Live realistically. We may be getting better but we are getting older. Be satisfied with who we are and how old we are.
YOUTH POEM
Author Unknown
Youth is not a time of life - it is a state of mind,
it is a temper of the will,
a quality of the imagination,
a vigor of the emotions,
a predominance of courage over timidity,
of the appetite for adventure over love of ease.
Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years.
People grow old only by deserting their ideals.
Years wrinkle the skin,
but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.
Worry, doubt, self-distrust,
fear and despair - these are the long,
long years that bow the head and
turn the growing spirit back to dust.
Whether they are sixteen or seventy,
there is in every being’s heart
the love of wonder,
the sweet amazement at the stars
and starlike things and thoughts,
the undaunted challenge of events,
the unfailing childlike appetite
for what is to come next,
and the joy and the game of life.
You are as young as your faith,
as old as your doubt;
as young as your self-confidence,
as old as your fear,
as young as your hope,
as old as your despair.
When the wires are all down
and all the innermost core of your heart
is covered with the snows of pessimism
and the ice of cynicism,
then you are grown old indeed.
But so long as your heart receives messages
of beauty, cheer, courage, grandeur
and power from the earth,
from man and from the Infinite,
so long you are young.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. (Rom. 8:28-30).
The message of Ecclesiastes 12 is not for the feeble and weak. It’s not for those in a nursing home. It is not for those that have reached the last miles on their earthly road. It is not for those about to give it all up. It’s for the young, for the strong. It’s for you. While the blood runs hot through your veins. While you work daily dreams into reality. While you let your step go through a path of your own making.
Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”
Without Christ joy can only get on the way to happiness. Without Christ youth can only get on the way of being young. Without Christ eternity is not the other face of grace. For God’s children the call is to be a positive force. The call is to be a reforming force. The call is to define joy and happiness and youth.
While you are still able to sing to love. To the first. To the last. To your daily life. While you are able to laugh and to cry with the simple joys of life. While you are still able to believe in God. This message is for you.
I want to make a provocative proposition. I want to propose that we are not called to be light but to fight darkness. Remember the song we used to sing as children: “This little light of mine”?
This little light of mine
I’m gonna let it shine
This little light of mine
I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine,
Let it shine…
My proposition to you is that being a torch, or a beacon, or a lighthouse is not enough. Being a light is not enough. My proposition to you is that, to be effective Christians, we need to combat against darkness. We need to battle against darkness. I’m not suggesting another crusade. I’m not arguing for a Christian jihad. I’m talking about total commitment. The kind that can be seen by everyone, everywhere.
I recently read in a magazine an article about “dark suckers”. You are welcome to laugh, but I think it illustrates my point.
Bell Labs Proves Existence of Dark Suckers
For years it has been believed that electric bulbs emitted light. However, recent information from Bell Labs has proven otherwise. Electric bulbs don’t emit light, they suck dark. Thus they now call these bulbs dark suckers. The dark sucker theory, according to a Bell Labs spokesperson, proves the existence of dark, that dark has mass heavier than that of light, and that dark is faster than light.
The basis of the dark sucker theory is that electric bulbs suck dark. Take for example, the dark suckers in the room where you are. There is less dark right next to them than there is elsewhere. The larger the dark sucker, the greater its capacity to suck dark. Dark suckers in a parking lot have a much greater capacity than the ones in this room. As with all things, dark suckers don’t last forever. Once they are full of dark, they can no longer suck. This is proven by the black spot on a full dark sucker. A candle is a primitive dark sucker. lA new candle has a white wick. You will notice that after the first use, the wick turns black, representing all the dark which has been sucked into it. If you hold a pencil next to the wick of an operating candle, the tip will turn black because it got in the path of the dark flowing into the candle.
Unfortunately, these primitive dark suckers have a very limited range. There are also portable dark suckers. The bulbs in these can’t handle all of the dark by themselves, and must be aided by a dark storage unit. When the dark storage unit is full, it must be either emptied or replaced before the portable dark sucker can operate again.
Dark has mass. When dark goes into a dark sucker, friction from this mass generates heat. Thus it is not wise to touch an operating dark sucker. Candles present a special problem, as the dark must travel in the solid wick instead of through glass. This generates a great amount of heat. Thus it can be very dangerous to touch an operating candle. Dark is also heavier than light. If you swim deeper and deeper, you notice it gets slowly darker and darker. When you reach a depth of approximately fifty feet, you are in total darkness. This is because the heavier dark sinks to the bottom of the lake and the lighter light floats to the top. The immense power of dark can be utilized to mans advantage. We can collect the dark that has settled to the bottom of lakes and push it through turbines, which generate electricity and help push it to the ocean where it may be safely stored. Prior to turbines, it was much more difficult to get dark from the rivers and lakes to the ocean. The Indians recognized this problem, and tried to solve it. When on a river in a canoe travelling in the same direction as the flow of the dark, they paddled slowly, so as not to stop the flow of dark, but when they traveled against the flow of dark, they paddled quickly so as to help push the dark along its way.
Finally, we must prove that dark is faster than light. If you were to stand in an illuminated room in front of a closed, dark closet, then slowly open the closet door, you would see the light slowly enter the closet, but since the dark is so fast, you would not be able to see the dark leave the closet.
In conclusion, Bell Labs stated that dark suckers make all our lives much easier. So the next time you look at an electric bulb remember that it is indeed a dark sucker.
It sort of make sense, in a odd way, doesn’t it? I don’t want you to become a “sucker” of any kind. I want you to stand for Christ. With all the knowledge, with all the science, with all the technology we now posses, I couldn’t have said it better than the Bible writer, “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19)
The words from wise people are like sharp sticks used to guide animals. They are like nails that have been driven in firmly. Altogether they are wise teachings that come from one Shepherd (Eccle. 3:11).
I may not practice it, but I’m all for being vegetarian and exercising. It’s great to be in good shape. We will probably be known as the generation that died the healthiest.
Life is to short to live it filled with bodily concerns. Jesus promised to give us abundant life. This is the time to give our lives to Jesus. His promise is to pass from death to life. If we are 80 or 15, he comes to us with the invitation to take him into our lives.
The challenge today for you and me is to face life with a full knowledge of having been redeemed by a young, healthy, Savior. For your benefit, for my benefit, He’s forever young.
