Some of the best years of my life
were over fifty years ago,
a time when family really mattered
but in life times come and go and
“FAMILY” has new connotations
seems these days in this old world,
seems family as it once was is no more…

And this has ended.

Back then folks knew their neighbors,
many were next of kin,
your grandfolks, your aunts and uncles,
your cousins, your best friends
but now we’re spread around the world,
folks aren’t as close today,
too busy and too self-absorbed…

And this has ended.

Back then open windows were air conditioning
and doors were left unlocked,
folks just leaned in and hollered,
and the neighbors seldom knocked
and you still felt safe, your life secure
and you didn’t fear the night…

And this has ended.

If neighbors fell on hard times
everyone pitched in to help.
They knew God meant it when God said
“Love your neighbor as yourself,”
and they loved God and worshiped Him,
families went to church together,
had respect for law and order;
of times, I don’t know any better…

And this has ended.

It seems life was better back then,
though folks joke about those yesteryears,
but there was self-respect and honor
and true admiration for your peers;
there wasn’t so much greed and jealousy,
not so much push and shove;
there was more wisdom and understanding
and a whole lot more love
back then, when I was growing up
some fifty years ago…

And this has ended.

Back then folks cared about and knew the difference
between what is right and wrong,
now folks espouse whatever makes you feel good,
and the world marches to a different song,
Self respect, respect for others
now no longer belongs in family or society…

And it seems honor has ended.

God and good are now all but forgotten.
Oh my, how things have changed.
Without God as our main focus
things will never be the same,
not again in this old world;
Once truth and trust were paramount…

And this has ended.

For all that we’ve accomplished
in the last fifty years,
seems to me we’re all worse off
and have a lot more fears;
And our freedoms are quickly fading
as we seek bigger, better, more,
seek our own way, our own desires
with no thought for our neighbor
or the good of the many
or the needy, challenged, poor.
Living is not as kind, it seems,
as it was before, in those yesteryears
of faith and hope and honor…

And it is no more.

It was like this in the days of Noah,
and in the days of Babylon…
And the writing it was on the wall,
and those nations, times are gone,
and we haven’t learned the lesson
and it keeps going on…

Then suddenly among the clouds
there shone an awesome light,
and trumpets blared and angels sang
and on a horse, alabaster white,
there came the King, the King of kings,
and the whole world trembled,
cried out in fear…now they believe,
and now every knee is bended…

And from His mouth came a mighty shout;

AND THIS IS ENDED.