Silver Lining

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In “A Prayer of Moses, A Man of God,” we learn that “… the years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty,” and if you read 5 lines down, he sends out a plea to God: “So teach us to number our days / that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90). In Psalm 139, the psalmist explains how the Lord has formed our days and written them in his book, “… when as yet there was none of them.”

Whether you have given your assent to biblical truths and trust in them is beside the point. We’re all destined for bodily (and/or mental) decay, and eventually a terrestrial death.

I’ve been thinking about quality of life issues in my elder years (I’m not quite there yet), but also thinking about how joyful life is at age sixty. How long will I continue to to experience this great peace and joy? I hope to have it up until my final (most glorious) day, which will definitely be eternal.

These are the thoughts that inspired this poem, “Silver Lining.” Enjoy! Continue reading

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Sunny’s Lament

Give me my robe, put on my crown; I have
Immortal longings in me . . . .—William Shakespeare

Before I place the asp upon my breast,
My God, before I pull the trigger back…
I have a song to sing that suites me best:
The pain I dish today is black on black
And brings a dreadful new beginning now,
For who can stand before the throne and plead
With “guilty” written boldly on her brow?
My note’s complete, I ask for one last deed:
That family watch my children every day,
Just like they have while I’ve been bare and numb,
Laid waste by Beelzebub—a devilish way
To leave this world, and yet I have his gun…
I’ll take the wings of morning, Lord, I plead,
For even deep below Your hand shall lead.†

Sunny left her Bible open to Psalm 139 before she took her own life: 

If I take the wings of the morning
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Even there your hand shall lead me (Psalm 139:9, 10.