1-8

"Listen up, maggots! No time for dilly-dallying. This is Ecclesiastes 12, 1-8. Pay attention, because this is important. You better remember it. All right, here it is: Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years draw near when you will say, 'I have no pleasure in them.' Before the sun, the light, the moon, and the stars grow dark and the clouds return after the rain, when the keepers of the house tremble and strong men stoop and the grinders cease because they are few and those who look through the windows grow dim. And when the doors to the street are shut and the sound of grinding fades, when people rise up at the sound of birds and all their songs grow faint, when people are afraid of heights and of danger in the streets, when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags itself along and the caperberry is unsuccessful, because man is going to his everlasting home and the mourners go about the streets, before the silver cord is snapped and the golden bowl is broken, the pitcher is shattered at the spring, and the wheel broken at the well. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return to God who gave it." That's it! You better have gotten it, because I'm not repeating it. Now hit the deck!