When I Was Young Poem by Curtis Johnson

WHEN I WAS YOUNG
By Curtis Johnson

When I was young, I thought I knew so much about so much, and such and such. When I was young, I knew where I wanted to go, what I wanted to do, why I wanted to do it, and when I wanted to do it; but I didn’t know how. When I was young, I saw pain and peril, poverty and ill gotten gain, doom and gloom, greed and bad seed.
When I was young, my mentors were few, my money was short, my mountains were high, my mission was clear, and my mind was made.
When I was young, I looked for more knowledge; I longed for more time, and I hungered for more of God.When I was young, I reached out to build the right relationships with all the right people, in all the right places.
When I was young, I listened a lot, to learn more about things I did not understand; and I laughed far less than I should have.
When I was young, I spoke and taught a lot; I saw and heard a lot; I worked too much, too hard, too long, and rested far less than I should have. When I was young, I wanted to touch all the bases, all the time, here and there and everywhere, with everybody, about everything.When I was young, I wanted to run and rush from place to place, to gain an audience and take away other people‘s pain, and share from face to face, matters of facts and faith and God, with the human race.
When I was young, I prayed and sought, and served and strove, and sat with saints, to listen for wisdom, to learn how to live, as the Master taught. When I was young, my spirit paced back and forth, to find my place, to discover my purpose, to occupy my space, to see a God that’s real, to discover where my life was suppose to fit.When I was young, I found peace and power, love to care, courage to share, grace to help, hope to cope, faith to go forward, and forgiveness from God.
I’m older now, and know so little; but I laugh more now; I listen more intensely, still learning more eagerly; I’m still looking, and I see so much more; I’m still longing, still reaching, and still touching. Yes, I’m older now, and I know how to be more patient; I pace less, have little stress; I rush no more, for haste is waste; I’m getting closer to the end of my mission, and I’m not worried about what I'm missing. I’m a lot older now, and I still bow before my Lord; I still love the Lord my God, I still say wow of His Vast Domain; and I’m forever needful of God’s Mercy and Eternal Grace. cj080107