Crossroads

Their paths met at a crossroads, the old man and the boy.

First they stood a while and stared, then spoke of their ideals.

“I want to live forever”, said the man with snowy hair.

“I want to die in youth”, said the child with shining eyes.

A third approached the crossroads, a man of middle age,

In time to overhear the two, and reflect on what was said.

“I want to do the best I can, and death can take me when it’s time,”

But the old man and the boy just laughed, and continued on their ways.

The old man sought eternal life, but found no cure for the gray.

The boy chased cars and women, but found more wrinkles every day.

But the man in the middle, with his wife and children all,

He found himself content, and could care less of growing old.

The old man died, as everyone does, for his search was in vain.

The boy found a woman whom he could love, and grew into a man.

And the man grew old, and in his age, saw fear in the eyes of death.

And so they met at the crossroads, their roles now rearranged.

The man in the middle now held a cane and graying temples.

The child of the former boy now chased cars and women.

And the boy himself, now a man with a wife and family, could only look on in silence,

As they tried to escape or reach death, and attempt to offer rationality to both.

But we all know that no one listens to the man telling us to slow down when we are young.

And we all know that no one listens to the old man yearning to save himself through Christ.

And we congratulate the boy who spends his youth chasing all the things no one needs.