Gold is often used to denote richness and even opulence, and it is sometimes used to describe certain ages of life. In this quotation from a song entitled, "Golden Days," from Sigmund Romberg's operetta "The Student Prince," the days of youth are extolled as golden.
Yes, we can all remember those carefree days of our youth, days when we romped and played without worry nor regret, warm summer days when we went fishing or lazed in the shade of the old apple tree, days of fun and frolic, days of love and romance, golden days. But gold has also been used to describe old age. We have all heard of the "golden years" of life. It's interesting that the youth have golden days and the old folks have golden years. Perhaps it is because as you get older the years seemed to go by so rapidly that they seem like days. I'm not sure what makes the declining years of life golden. They say that you mellow with age. and that suggests a somewhat overripe condition. Robert Browning was inspired to write a poem about a certain adventurer named Rabbi Ben Ezra, who evidently led an exciting life, who inspired Browning's eulogy describing the last of life as being better than the first."Golden days in the sunshine of our happy youth, Golden days full of innocence and full of truth. Looking back through memories haze! We will know life has nothing sweeter than its springtime, Golden days, when we're young, golden days." Dorothy Donnelly.
However, I am not sure I agree with this philosophy, I am more inclined to accept a very graphic picture of old age from Solomon, the wisest man."Grow old with me! The best is yet to be, The last of life for which the first was made."
This gloomy picture that Solomon painted comes from the total disillusionment of a man who looked back on a life that had been squandered in riotous, extravagant living. I believe that Solomon came to the conclusion that what makes the last of life worthwhile are the golden memories of former happy days, and the fellowship of our friends and fellow travelers. God has promised His people a golden future in the golden land of the hereafter. There will be golden streets, golden crowns, golden slippers, a golden city; our bodies will be gloriously youthful, and we will enjoy, not golden days, not golden years, but "a golden eternity.""Someday the light of the sun and moon and stars will seem dim to you. Your body will grow feeble, your teeth will decay; and your sight will fail. Even the sound of a bird will keep you awake. You will be afraid to climb a hill or walk down a road. Your hair will turn as white as almond blossoms. You will feel lifeless and drag along like an old grasshopper" (Eccl. 12:2-5, TEV.).
