~
● Ecc 12:1 . . So appreciate your vigor in the days of your youth, before those days
of sorrow come and those years arrive of which you will say: I have no pleasure in
them.
Most people cope pretty well with middle age, and old age too-- as long as they're
in good health, their mind is sound and, they have the right attitude. But nobody
does very well with advanced age.
Your bowels won't work right, you'll be incontinent and smell bad; diverticulitis
causes blood in your stools, your skin will be thin and easily torn, blue veins pop
out on your legs and on the backs of your hands, you won't see things unless
they're right under your nose, your sense of smell will be weak right along with
your sense of taste. Savory foods will taste like cardboard and your stomach can't
deal with them anyway.
No more hiking, no more bicycle rides, no more airplane trips, and very little travel.
Walking, if you're able to walk at all, will really be little more than a shuffle of slow,
flat footed, jerky little short steps rather than a brisk fluid stroll.
● Ecc 12:2 . . before sun and light and moon and stars grow dark, and the clouds
come back again after the rain:
Often, as people get older and their health begins to fail, friends will ask: Hey,
how's ol' so and so doing? And someone will say: Oh, he has his good days and he
has his bad days. Well, eventually ol' so and so will have only his bad days and no
good days ever again.
● Ecc 12:3a . .When the keepers of the house become shaky,
Keeping house requires the use of one's hands for mopping, dusting, and doing
laundry and dishes. Aged people's hands tremble. They can't hold anything steady.
In fact, they have so little strength and dexterity left in their hands that they can't
grasp anything securely; so they drop stuff a lot.
● Ecc 12:3b . . And the men of valor are bent,
Those in advanced age, even if they were once proud Olympic athletes, can't stand
up straight and keep their shoulders back anymore. Older people get bent and
hunched. They shrink too, and some practically curl over like a question mark.
● Ecc 12:3c . . the grinding ones stand idle because they are few,
Before the advent of dentures and professional dental care, people commonly lost
their teeth from decay and gum disease. As they got older, people lost more and
more teeth until the day came when there finally weren't enough teeth left in their
mouth to bite off food and chew it. Foods like grains, meats, and many crispy fresh
fruits and vegetables were simply out of the question; so they had to eat mushy
foods, foods that were overcooked; or that didn't require a lot of biting and
chewing. There's still a lot of that in third world countries.
● Ecc 12:3d . . and those that look through the windows grow dim,
Cataracts are a common ailment among the aged. It's a cruel condition because it
clouds the eye's lens thus preventing full passage of light to the retina. When I had
my own cataracts treated, I was amazed. Not only was the world a whole lot
brighter, but colors were more vivid too. But back in Solomon's day, there was no
treatment for cataracts; so people's eyesight just waxed worse and worse as time
went on to the point where they could no longer even get around on their own or
even so much as recognize familiar friends.
● Ecc 12:4a . . And the doors to the street are shut--
The doors are shut because aged people get chilled easily by drafts. Riding on a city
transit bus once, in the dead of summer in San Diego, some senior citizens shut my
window because the air blowing in was making them cold even though the rest of
us on board were broiling in the heat.
_
