When It's Over
Having lost my dear mother and beloved son, watching friends with life-threatening illnesses, and the loss of individuals daily around the world, impending death has been in my thoughts and on my heart. These thoughts have led me to write the poem, "When It's Over."
When It's Over
What do you do when it's over
When there is no place or time to start over?
You see your life coming to an end
There is no chance to begin again
What will really last
As your life sped by so fast?
They say it's what's within your dash
It's the love given out not the cash
How many lives have been touched and changed?
It's the lasting effect for the long range
If you had a chance to redo
Would you see life's meaning and its clues?
We are all the small creatures scratching symbols on our walls
Never contemplating our future falls
Each breath taken could founder past
So it matters all the chosen players in your cast
Each day should be sung as your last song
Using the time to try and right all your wrongs
You don't know the number of your days
Life is about caring and compassion in so many ways
Experiencing a deep loss with no explainable cause
Gives you a reason to think and pause
Reflecting on the significance and meaning
Gives credence to our humanity and being
What is life's purpose, you say
The answer is there when you find your way
A life lived of love is everything
In heaven and on earth it reigns
All those painful and joyous tears lost and shed
Were meant to bring you life's knowledge before you were dead
So turn inside and within to feel your heart
That is when you will finally become smart
See all the miracles surrounding you to see
Dream and dream big as to what could be
Each of us has our own journey and tale
Always rise up never be afraid to fall or fail
So what's on your future epitaph
That will endure and really last?
Wonder if you will have to account
Things done and not done to recount
Kindness, love, and mercy to all
These are thoughts and memories to recall
Fate may not allow you to wait
One moment to the next, you may be at Heaven's gate
What will you say?
What will you have to pay?
Wondering when it's all over
What will be next in the order?
Things to ponder and consider before its too late
Before you meet your own fateful date
You always have another chance
Until you dance your final dance
What will be your fate?
How will you rate?
How will you be remembered when it's all done?
What will you say when you come face to face with the Son?
So what will be said with your one last breath?
Will there be no sadness or regret?
When the final curtain falls
How do you think God will judge it all?
-Dr. Rhonda Milner
“Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure. Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom; in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth without knowing whose it will finally be. But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you." Psalm 39:4-7
"Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."
Psalm 90:12
“All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”
Isaiah 40:6b-8
"The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more."
Psalm 103:15-16