Oh, this is a sad sight By Ashton
Oxenden A happy old age, 1870 One would think that the longer
a person lived, the more willing he would be to leave his present
earthly abode, but this is not always the case. Sometimes, alas,
we see very aged people clinging to this world even more tightly
than the young. We see them close to the grave's
mouth, and yet loving the riches, the pleasures, the trifles of
this world, with all their affections. Oh, this is a sad sight! It is sad to see a poor dying
creature entering upon a solemn eternity, with a heart glued
to the world which he is leaving. and full of its concerns. When
this is the case with a Christian, God often, in mercy, sends us
some affliction, He withers our gourds which have grown up around
us, that He may lead us to seek a truer and a safer shelter. He sees that we are too fond
of these clay cottages of ours, so he makes the walls to crumble,
that we may be content to leave them at his call. Look at your
growing infirmities, dear reader, as so many mercies. Let them
serve to remind you that you will not be here always, and
that this world is not your rest, because it is polluted. Let your
growing infirmities make you long for that happier land, where
there shall be no more old age, where sorrow and sighing shall
be unknown, and where the inhabitant shall never say, I am sick. Oh,
it is well for us that all is not health, and strength, and
sunshine here, else we would be even fonder than we are of
our present earthly home.