And even if he escapes all these
disasters, he must needs fail at last, by mere old age, when the days
come "when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;" when the sun and
the light are darkened, and the clouds return after the rain, when the
strong men bow themselves, and those who look out of the windows are
dark; and he shall rise up at the voice of a bird, and fears shall be in
the way, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail:
because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the
streets. Think for yourselves. What would you wish your end to be--
lonely, unhappy, without the love, the respect, the care of your fellow-
men; or surrounded by friends who comfort your failing body and soul on
earth, and receive you at last into everlasting habitations?
Make friends, make friends against that day, whether or not you make them
out of the mammon of unrighteousness. If you have been unrighteous,
bring friends back to you, as the steward did, by being just and fair, by
confessing your faults freely, by doing your best to atone for them.
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