This afternoon when using a theme search in Hymn Quest I stumbled across this hymn about approaching old age (and even death I suspect) which I thought was rather lovely (even if it is no use for my upcoming service on the child in the church!)...

When I was a child I walked in the sunlight,
Drank the wind,
Listened to moss in a wall,
And I thought I knew it all.
Now I walk in the dark,
Nothing high, nothing low.
There's no colour of sound
As with steps in the snow.
I walk in the darkness
Through an unpinioned night,
To the time when I'll be a child
With strength to bear the light.

When I was a child I walked in the sunlight,
Stroked the bird-song,
Leaned my full weight on shadows
And for me they were so strong.
Now I walk in the dark,
Nothing deep, nothing wide.
I unslip all the years
That scold and deride.
I need no shadows
For support in this night
Through which I go to my birth
And strength to bear the light.

Estelle White (born 1925) © 1969 Stainer & Bell Ltd and McCrimmon Publishing Company Ltd
Irregular

Maybe at a future date I'll do a service on older people and the church...?