Friday, August 11, 2017

ON MY 90TH BIRTHDAY

Frank White

ON MY 90TH BIRTHDAY

They say that I am very old,
(I’ve heard them say it times untold).
They see me ageing day by day,
And this, I’m sure, is what they say:
“Just see him now, who was so spry,
With a bright twinkle in his eye;
A kindly smile for all the folk;
A cheery word he ever spoke.
But now he’s such a frail old thing
Who’s lived beyond life’s normal spin.
His steps are wobbly and slow,
However spry he tries to go;
His hearing, too, is not so keen;
His eye has lost its merry sheen.
He spends most time twixt bed and chair.
With wee odd visits here and there.”
But then, they add, “He’s very old,
Full 90 years today, all told.”

And what they say is true of me;
For they but speak of what they see.
My steps are slow; my eyes are dim;
I’m fair worn out; I’ve lost my vim;
My hands are shaky, too – but then,
I’m long past three score years and ten.

Yet, while that’s true for all to see,
There is another side of me;
For, deep within, far out of sight,
There is a ME all Life and Light:
The ME God fashioned as a babe;
The ME that Jesus died to save;
The ME He’s blessed through all the years,
And kept by grace ‘spite doubts and fears:
The ME to whom He pledged His Word
That I’ll dwell ever with my Lord:
That in His Many-mansioned Home,
I, in the end, will safely come,
And with those heavenly angels smile
That I once loved and lost awhile.
Yes, deep within me, out of sight,
There dwells this ME all LIFE AND LIGHT;
The ME that’s hoping soon to hear
The Saviour say: “Come! Join me here.”

So this is what I have to say
To mark my ninety-eth birthday;
THE KING OF LOVE MY SHEPHERD IS,
AYE, HE IS MINE AND I AM HIS:
UNENDING IS HIS MATCHLESS GRACE,
WHAT JOY ‘TWILL BE TO SEE HIS FACE!

– F.W.F.W. [1911-2001]
[Dad went to be with his Lord two weeks after his 90th birthday]

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