The old sorting process has turned up another gem. This is another poem featured in Young Disciple magazine (Volume 6, Number 28). I still remember when I first read it, and the deep impression it made on me then.
What Then?
by J. Whitfield Green
When the factories of our great cities
Have turned out their last finished work—
When the merchant has sold his last yard of silk
And dismissed his last tired clerk—
When the banks have rolled in their last dollar,
And paid out their last dividend—
And the Judge of the world says,
“Closed for the night” and calls for a balance—
What then?
When the choir has sung its last anthem,
And the preacher has said his last prayer—
When the organ has pealed it last echo,
And its sound has died out on the air—
When the Bible has closed on the altar,
And the pews are all empty of men—
And each soul stands facing his record,
And the Great Book is opened—
What then?
When the actor has played his last drama,
And the comic has made his last fun—
When the movie has flashed its last picture,
And the billboards displayed their last run—
When the crowds seeking pleasure have vanished,
And gone out into darkness again—
And a world that rejected its Savior
Is asked for a reason—
What then?
When the bugle dies out in the silence,
And the long marching columns are still,
When the millions of Earth are gathered
From ocean and valley and hill—
When the Day that has no tomorrow
Has come to the last, last end,
And the voice of God from the heavens
Says, “It is done”—
What then?
* * *
Although it is a somber poem—some no doubt would say depressing—it is not a poem about despair. In the Christian worldview, the future has the potential to be inestimably bright. The poem reminds us that our lives are so often spent in worldly care, in neglect of opportunities, and in vanity. If our lives could be spent doing what has lasting value, we’d have no fear or shame for the “What then?”
As I look back over my life, I see so much time wasted pursuing things that had no lasting value (many of them not inherently bad things), the foolish decisions I made, and opportunities that were missed. I haven’t entirely sorted this out—the extent to which God leaves us to figure things out on our own, versus divine revelation; the way God sometimesintends for us to miss “opportunities” that may not have been His plan. Life is complicated, and mysterious. Yet I am also sure that to a great degree my mistakes and sins have kept me from experiencing more of God’s gifts in the past.
On the happier side, I feel that God has blessed me in many ways. Sometimes I’m not even sure why I am blessed so much. I am sure that someone could make better use of the blessings I have. But I am thankful that God has seen fit to do so much with and for me.