Job 7:9

As the cloud dissipates, vanishes,

   So, whoever goes down to Sheol, rises no more.

Sammy Hagar has a song “I can’t drive 55” in which he claims he could not get out of second gear. Today I feel like I cannot get going even in first gear, but the last few days I felt like I was stuck in second gear working hard and seeming to get nowhere. If in a car, I would have just changed gears.

“Dissipates” was also suggested as “fades”, “vanishes”, “disappears”, and “is consumed”. Fades is probably the most correct simple word, but I liked dissipates a little more. “Vanish” I used for the second term which seemed in sequence and made “disappear” and being “consumed” not the best alternatives. Other options for “vanish” as the second word include “is gone”, “vanished away”, “goes off”, “disappears”, and no second term at all. I used my poet source’s form as it felt correct.

“Sheol” could have been “grave” or ‘below ground”, neither of which seemed appropriate. “Does not come up” was the popular suggestion, with others like “does not return”, but “rises no more” just felt right.

I have this impression that as people age, they become less productive, and I project this into every aspect of life. But with this verse, I reject the idea that we must fade away in every area as we age. I believe the treasures we store in heaven are based on the good we do for others and the relationships we build while still living. I want to have more and better relationships as I grow and know that when I do indeed rise no more, it will come at the peak of my productivity in helping and relating to others and not just the end of a fading stream of introspection. So I want to go out with the engine screaming at a nice old age in a high gear letting the Son shine brightly through me.