One of these days I’ll be gone
I’ll be on my way home,
Exactly when I’ll arrive there
To me that is still unknown.
My flight is already booked
And I have my visa too,
I’ve gone through immigration
My departure is in view.
Perhaps you are wondering
“Why this morbid thought?”
It’s because of recent happenings
It’s what death has wrought.
Many of my acquaintances
Are passing off the scene
Friends also and relatives
Yielding to death’s horrid scheme.
All around me they are falling
And I wonder who is next,
Still I am not overwhelmed
Though my appointed time is set.
I’m a little tired of funerals
They’re coming much too fast
And trying to attend them all
Is quite a daunting task.
Right now there are three
Three weeks ago I attended four
And taking that on average
There’s likely to be some more.
With the old it’s to be expected
But young limes are dropping too,
The old, the young and in between
The next one could be you.
Read the preceding verse again
And I trust that you would see
“The next one
could be you”
Is pointing straight back at me.
This has been the trend
For over the last four years,
A funeral each week
Or on average quite near.
Hence you can now see
Why death is on my mind,
With my friends going so fast
I am thinking of my time.
But while I fear the unknown
It is not a hopeless fear
For I belong to Jesus
And to me that is very clear.
I have been born again
I’ve been washed in Christ’s blood
My sins are all forgiven
And in Jesus I am good.
I know that if I should die
Before this day is gone
I will be going home with Jesus
I won’t be going alone.
When I will I arrive there
I really don’t know
But my Lord will take care of that
Yes, he told me so.
“I go to prepare a place for you,”
That is what he said
And the only way I could live again
Is if I were dead.
Stewart Russell © October 2018
