Nothing gold can stay

Nature's first green is gold

Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
              - Robert Frost-

This is one of my favourite poems.  Here Frost is at this best...a seemingly simple 8-line poem, but oh how aptly and deeply he captures the essence of the transience of life. It is forever changing, and as the wheels of life turns, we face different challenges, and change along with it...though there is that underlying implication that nothing in life is permanent.

"Nothing gold can stay... Really?
I remember this line being quoted in SE Hinton's "The Outsiders"...the classic tale of two groups of young men; on the verge of adulthood; facing life's twists and turns.  One of the characters, before dying, tells his friend to "stay gold"...and that is a line that I have often used on quite a few of my students.  I hope that while they move on in life, their inner self will 'stay gold...inner strength and courage...brought about by the strength of their characters.

Without a doubt, gold is considered to be one of the world's most precious commodities (ya...look at how the prices have sky-rocketed)...with even more marketable value than any of the precious gems. But back to the poem...while nothing gold can stay, the message there is one that is positive, rather than negative.  If we learn to accept that things will change, we will also be able to see that there are blessings that we get in life; and that the experiences of good and bad things we encounter, are natural.

There are no perfections in life...
Nothing remains forever good....nor does it stay forever bad.
We all have our fair share of good memories, and horrible experiences.
But we can still try...to keep the 'gold'...
so that life, is much more meaningful.

Nothing gold can stay....perhaps...
We can try...and keep on trying...
not to search for the 'fool's gold'
but the gold within our characters/

Dear God.,
Thank you...for another day.
Ameen