{"id":57462,"date":"2023-07-09T01:28:39","date_gmt":"2023-07-09T05:28:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=57462"},"modified":"2023-06-12T07:35:57","modified_gmt":"2023-06-12T11:35:57","slug":"life-long-long-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2023\/07\/09\/life-long-long-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Life Long\/ Long Life"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/55\/2021\/08\/unspecified-2-scaled.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-40179\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/55\/2021\/08\/unspecified-2-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>LIFE LONG\/ LONG LIFE<\/p>\n<p>(for family and friends)<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Sadness sinks in,<\/p>\n<p>With the passing of the past<\/p>\n<p>Great ones<\/p>\n<p>Their voices are not silenced<\/p>\n<p>Since they are on record and records<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But there is no fresh work<\/p>\n<p>No new thing to bring the Spring<\/p>\n<p>Of the heart<\/p>\n<p>The elation of creation<\/p>\n<p>The thrill of live and embodied<\/p>\n<p>The erection of connection<\/p>\n<p>Between artist and audience<\/p>\n<p>Between musician and the music<\/p>\n<p>Between time and eternity.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes the sounds resound<\/p>\n<p>Fill the soul and move the self,<\/p>\n<p>But sometimes we say\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Can these bare bones live<\/p>\n<p>What do they have to give<\/p>\n<p>But a pale shadow<\/p>\n<p>A fleeting glimpse<\/p>\n<p>An awakened memory<\/p>\n<p>That dwells on the past<\/p>\n<p>And cannot last?<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Can we face the past<\/p>\n<p>Backing our way into an uncertain future?<\/p>\n<p>Backing our way<\/p>\n<p>Down the corridor of today?<\/p>\n<p>Can we face the music<\/p>\n<p>That we are all timed beings<\/p>\n<p>And say honestly\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Out out brief candle,<\/p>\n<p>Life is but a poor player<\/p>\n<p>That struts and frets his time upon the stage<\/p>\n<p>And is no more\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Or should we carpe diem,<\/p>\n<p>Not merely carpe the per diem<\/p>\n<p>Or is there something greater than merely lasting<\/p>\n<p>Or outlasting others,<\/p>\n<p>Could there really be everlasting?<\/p>\n<p>Not just everlasting creations<\/p>\n<p>But everlasting creatures?<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>My heart says yes<\/p>\n<p>My mind says yes please<\/p>\n<p>My soul says there must be<\/p>\n<p>More in store for the timed being<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>So, for the time being<\/p>\n<p>I remember these words\u2014<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Ashes to ashes<\/p>\n<p>Dust to dust,<\/p>\n<p>In sure and certain hope of the resurrection\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I reach out my hand in faith\u2013<\/p>\n<p>Faith the assurance of things hoped for,<\/p>\n<p>And a strong conviction about the things<\/p>\n<p>Not yet <em>seen<\/em><\/p>\n<p>But I can almost <em>hear <\/em>the heavenly choir<\/p>\n<p>That my heart desires<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And think here how to tune my instrument<\/p>\n<p>So that I will be in tune when I get there\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Beyond the river, beyond the earth, beyond the air,<\/p>\n<p>In a permanent somewhere,<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Where there is no suffering, sin, or sorrow<\/p>\n<p>No disease, decay or death<\/p>\n<p>Where never is heard a discouraging word<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>No more crying, no more tears<\/p>\n<p>No more hatred, no more fears<\/p>\n<p>No more weakness, no more worry<\/p>\n<p>No more haste, no more hurry<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But faith becomes sight, hope is realized<\/p>\n<p>And love endures forever<\/p>\n<p>In the presence of the One who is Love.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>So instead of saying farewell<\/p>\n<p>To parents and friends who have gone before<\/p>\n<p>I say Fare Well,<\/p>\n<p>And when I cease to roam,<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll see you at Home.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>6\/12\/23<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LIFE LONG\/ LONG LIFE (for family and friends) \u00a0 Sadness sinks in, With the passing of the past Great ones Their voices are not silenced Since they are on record and records \u00a0 But there is no fresh work No new thing to bring the Spring Of the heart The elation of creation The thrill [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":40179,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[13598,13600],"class_list":["post-57462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-ars-longa","tag-vita-brevis"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Life Long\/ Long Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"LIFE LONG\/ LONG LIFE (for family and friends) &nbsp; Sadness sinks in, With the passing of the past Great ones Their voices are not silenced Since they\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Life Long\/ Long Life\" \/>\n<meta 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