"When You Get On"

"When you get on and lived a long time
And the walk up the stairs is a mighty high climb,
Though your eyes are dimmer than what they were
And the pages of a book has a misty blur,
Strange as the case may seems to be
Then is the time you will clearly see.

You’ll see yourself as you really are,
When you’ve lived a lot and you’ve travelled far,
When your strength gives out and your muscles tire
You’ll see the folly of ambition’s desire;
You’ll see what now to your sight is hid,
The numberless trivial things you did.

Often the blindest are youthful eyes,
For age must come ere a man grows wise,
And youth makes much of the mountain peaks,
And the strive for fame and the goals it seeks,
But age sits down with the setting sun
And smiles at the boastful deeds it’s done.

You’ll sigh for the friends that were set aside
By a hasty word or a show of pride,
You’ll laugh at medals that now you prize,
For you’ll look at them through clearer eyes
And see how little they really meant
For which so much your strength was spent.

You’ll see, as always an old man sees,
That the waves die down with the fading breeze,
That the pomp’s of life never last for long,
And the great sink back to the common throng,
And you’ll understand when the struggle ends,
That the finest gifts of this life are friends." —Author Unknown

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets