The sun sinks behind the horizon and another African sunset fades away. One more day slips downstream in the river of my life. What a beautiful sky it was! Now darkness settles over Joburg and I go inside to the hum of a thousand lives buzzing hurriedly by – late for dinner, early for drinks or some such thing.
I realize I am saying goodbye to a wonder-filled day, a beautiful season. It seems dark, all around me are people hurrying by and for a moment I want life to wait, to rewind. I think about one of my father’s favourite poems
– Time, You Old Gipsy Man by Ralph Hodgeson
TIME, you old gipsy man,
Will you not stay,
Put up your caravan
Just for one day?
All things I’ll give you
Will you be my guest,
Bells for your jennet
Of silver the best,
Goldsmiths shall beat you
A great golden ring,
Peacocks shall bow to you,
Little boys sing.
Oh, and sweet girls will
Festoon you with may,
Time, you old gipsy,
Why hasten away?
Last week in Babylon,
Last night in Rome,
Morning, and in the crush
Under Paul’s dome;
Under Paul’s dial
You tighten your rein–
Only a moment,
And off once again;
Off to some city
Now blind in the womb,
Off to another
Ere that’s in the tomb.
Time, you old gipsy man,
Will you not stay,
Put up your caravan
Just for one day ?
Then I remember darkness is not the end, but another beginning. Time’s footsteps can be seen passing from one Kingdom to another, Babylon, Rome, The British Empire and here we are today wondering if the day grows darker and if the light will be renewed?
Genesis 1 :5 say (KJV) God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day
The book of beginnings (Genesis) begins with God speaking into darkness, and from there on the mornings of each new day follow the evenings. It would seem that the darkness of evenings, in the calendar of God, are not a time of mourning what is ending but rather a time to dream in the darkness what the new day will reveal.
If there are long shadows around your life, darkness even, don’t be afraid look up and like Abraham begin to count the stars and dream impossible dreams. Stop and become aware of the Holy Spirit hovering over the surface of your life to create a new world for you but most of all listen to the Voice of God speaking into the darkness the words of the new things he has hidden away for your glory. It is not long now, put your head down and rest.
