If life were but a river and I were on a boat,
Swiftly moving downstream,
Would I not want to know where I am going?

If life were but a dream,
And it was a nightmare or pleasant,
Should I be afraid to wake up to reality?

The most basic of songs carries with it the most frightening of thoughts,
As many try to row, row, row their boats upstream, 
What happens when we finally lose our will to live or are merely overtaken?

Life on Earth is an ocean of dreams,
Billions wandering lost and alone,
Some not knowing or caring what it is all about living lost in their dreams,
They are lost without hope and blind to their real needs.

What a shame a meaningless life is, 
Deepest emptiness and darkness.

What defines meaning? Who dares to say this in this postmodern world? 
God is dead declares the philosopher of the day, 
Religion is for the weak, 
Christianity for the fools is what they say – just meaningless drivel.

What hope is there for the lost person today? 
Living to row their boats in an endless ocean of misery, 
Just to live, knowing one day they will die. 
Do it for the thrills, pleasure, and fun say some! 
Enjoy what you have because tomorrow may never come!

Vanity all of it, here today and gone tomorrow, 
What is there that really lasts?

Why does no one look? Why do so many never talk about it? 
What spell do these worldly pleasures hold on the many that only a few really seek?

What makes us better than the animal whether a bird that flies or a fox that runs? 
Why do some despair yet never reach out for a hand of help?

What makes me different when I observe all of this when most others don’t? 
I draw the same air, and eat and drink like the next person why should I be any different?

What made me to seek what lasts, a better way that this world does not offer?

The philosopher is the real irony, 
They are dead in mind and sight. 
They cannot see their nose for their face, 
The forest for the trees, 
The greatest truths are just in front of them and all around.

We should be awed by all creation in this postmodern day, 
In this age of space sight and flight, 
Trillions upon trillions of stars, and millions of galaxies yet all we barely know or dare reach!

All is chance to the philosopher of the day, 
Life only has the meaning we choose to give it or some other vague esoteric meaning we construct!

But I cry out, “Row your boat indeed! Row for your very life!” 
Lest one day you awake to what is real, 
Fighting your whole life for what is not! 
Vanity of vanities and darkest emptiness how can you bear it?

Why are so many so blind to the God out there? 
Why are we so afraid to throw down our philosophy and open up to the Bible? 
Why is it so hard to believe when there is so much to lose by not looking?

Why are the ideas of a Man who claimed to be the Son of God still two thousand years ago later dismissed so easily when they are still so true today? 
Better to wake today to the Light and not another second in darkness before it is too late!

John Beardsley, 2 Co 10:5
October 24, 2022