Rage Against the Dying of the Light

“Men do not quit playing because they grow old; they grow old because they quit playing.” – Anonymous

I notice it almost every week, perhaps because I live in Florida where there are so many retirees, but it still bothers me just the same. What am I referring to? Simply put, men sitting idly on their front porch or shuffling their way slowly across a parking lot.

From what I can tell, these men are relatively fit and healthy and yet, they seem to be going about their day in slow motion with no drive, ambition, purpose, or motivation. What a waste of the gift God has given us called T-I-M-E.

Ephesians 5:15-16 reads as follows: “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” I think most people would agree that the days we are living in are growing increasingly evil. All you have to do is watch the evening news on TV, where innocent people are being assaulted and killed on a regular basis. And then there is the war in Israel, where Hamas is raping women, beheading babies, and taking civilians hostage to use as human shields.

You and I cannot always stop evil in its tracks or prevent every violent act of crime. However, we can do something, somewhere, to help someone. And if we all do our part, we can push back against the spiritual darkness that is enveloping our world.

I don’t know about you, but as long as I have breath in my body and life in my lungs, I will be “about my Father’s business” (see Luke 2:49). Don’t look for me on my front porch or shuffling slowly across a parking lot. Instead, look for me on the front lines of the spiritual battle that is taking place all around us.

Let me close with a few lines from Dylan Thomas’s famous poem…

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

“The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.” Psalm 90:10 (ESV)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President