Remember your Creator
in the days of your youth,
before the days of trouble come
and the years approach when you will say,
“I find no pleasure in them”—
before the sun and the light
and the moon and the stars grow dark,
and the clouds return after the rain;
when the keepers of the house tremble,
and the strong men stoop,
when the grinders cease because they are few,
and those looking through the windows grow dim;
when the doors to the street are closed
and the sound of grinding fades;
when people rise up at the sound of birds,
but all their songs grow faint;
when people are afraid of heights
and of dangers in the streets;
when the almond tree blossoms
and the grasshopper drags itself along
and desire no longer is stirred.
Then people go to their eternal home
and mourners go about the streets.
Remember him—before the silver cord is severed,
and the golden bowl is broken;
before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,
and the wheel broken at the well,
and the dust returns to the ground it came from,
and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
- Ecclesiastes 12:1-7
Even to your old age and gray hairs
I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you.
- Isaiah 46:4
The New Boilerplate
My wife filled a small book with “Angel” on the cover. It was hidden with a box of crafting things. On 18 July 2025, I thought I had posted the last of these. But this little angel book held a prayer, followed by 71 quotes. So, the “with a little help” series is back in business for a while. And it will be fun for me. She did not attribute any of the quotes. The first, next week’s installment, is from James A. Garfield, the 20th president of the USA. The next one is disputed, with some thinking it originated with Teddy Roosevelt and others saying Fred Astaire. After the prayer, these might be on the lighter side.
Her quote
“You can’t help getting older, but you don’t have to get old.”
- George Burns
The Discussion
The quote is attributed to George Burns according to the internet. George Burns lived to be 100 years old. His comedy routines, late in life, were mostly about getting old. The explanation of getting old that I remember is that he said that getting old, for men, came in three stages. The first stage is when you forget to zip up (meaning the fly of the pants). The second stage is when you forget to zip down. The third stage is when you simply forget.
I always laughed at the three stages of getting old, but I was confused about the third one. I experienced the first stage long before I thought I was “old.” I plead the fifth amendment, in that I do not want to incriminate myself about stage two.
And I think I understand the third stage. There is another comedian these days, an engineer named Don McMillan. He does his comedy using PowerPoint. He put up a slide regarding what people now do when they first get up in the morning. They check e-mail. They check the weather. They post something on social media. Etc. But thirty years ago, if you asked people what they do first thing in the morning, ninety-seven percent of the people say that they “pee.” The other three percent change the sheets because they peed in the sheets.
Add Don McMillan’s joke to the third stage in George Burns getting old, and I am alarmed in that I do not have a strong urgency first thing in the morning. I asked the urologist whether it was a bad sign when I could wake in the middle of the night, roll over, and go back to sleep. Sure, I felt that I could go to the bathroom, but I did not have to. The urologist laughed and said, “Among all the men on earth, you are blessed.” But I wonder. Maybe that is the third stage of getting old.
The point of the George Burns joke is to not get old. It is like the mind-over-matter comment last week from Mark Twain. Once you have it in your head that you are old, then it’s all downhill from there.
Once you get “old,” you aren’t much of a witness for Christ. You might chat with the nurse that makes house calls, but that may be your limit.
Georges Burns signed a contract at age 96 with Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. He was to perform there for the rest of his life, including a big bash on his hundredth birthday. But Allen had appeared at a December 1995 party, a month before his 100th birthday. It was hosted by Frank Sinatra who had turned 80 that month. Burns got the flu at the party and that weakened him. He failed to perform on his 100th birthday, and he died a couple of months later.
He himself lived out his saying. You can’t help getting older, but you do not have to get old. If you do…
But there is a wonderful alternative to getting old for those who love the Lord. They get to be with Jesus forever.
Soli Deo Gloria. Only to God be the Glory
Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley 
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