General MacArthur said "Old soldiers never die - they just fade away. So do the rest of us. Excepting only those who die young, we all fade away.
Or, more to the point, our world fades away.
The dimming of the day is more than metaphor for old age. My senses sense less with each passing year.
For those who live long enough, the world will fade before they die.
For some, the mind fades before the senses. Neither is pleasant. Both are inevitable. Everything in this temporal world fades away, even memories.
Memories are ghosts of what was; they shimmer hauntingly for a time - then they, too, fade away.
My friend, Tom Simon, emailed to me an account of an early "drone" plane jerry-rigged by the US Military for use in WWII's Pacific theater. Tom's uncle, Bernard Simon's, was there as participant.
Most of the document uses Bernard's own words to tell what happened and his role in the event. Instrumental in its electronics was an off-the-shelf RCA television.
It's a great story of American ingenuity, and a tribute to Tom's Uncle Bernard. Sadly, the story is largely forgotten, along with thousands of similar stories from that war.
I told Tom he should make sure the story of the improvised drone is included in his uncle's eulogy.
Mighty empires rise and fall. Single individuals
do impossible things. Motherless children birth dynasties. Miracles happen when least expected.
History records the largest events.
Most of the rest is soon forgotten. Even written history eventually fades from memory.
Why does anyone bother to strive or sacrifice?
I suppose some stout sort would say, "because it needed doing". I guess that's practical. Take care of today and tomorrow will take care of itself.
Practicality doesn't answer the question of why bother. It avoids the question by refusing to think about it.
Maybe I shouldn't think about it either, but I do.
My answer will be dismissed by secularists.
Those who know God will understand.
This world that seems so real, isn't. It's a shadow-show whose only purpose is identifying those who qualify for eternal life in Heaven, and those who don't.
We should strive and sacrifice; not for any reward in this world, but for the lasting glory of our souls in the eternal world that lies beyond.
We needn't worry about fading away. Our souls are eternal.
I have no proof of that.
I don't need any.