The Final Measure

The measure

when taken

will judge more than height.

More than weight will be judged to determine what’s right.

We’ll find

at the end

that the measure was found

not by our eyes that decay in the ground.

Indeed

had we seen

we would all have done more

to consider what our bodies could not adorn.

It seems pride

in essence

was more in our scales,

than in rules that we placed on the length of our hair.

Dust to dust

ashes to ashes.

Our cups we’ve made clean,

while pride is our drink.

Long robes,

honored seats;

our reward shall be shallow

if upon our own measures we place all our value.

Irony

and fear

we’ll find at the Scale,

if fastings and tenths from death do not spare.

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It's easy to get caught up on little details in life: appearances, status, lifestyles, etc. Once we reach the end, once we die, I think we'll each be somewhat surprised by how little those things truly mattered in the grand scheme. As humans, I think we like to be liked by other people and find comfort in uniformity, I think that's natural. Sometimes it's the unnatural (but ultimately rewarding) thing to step away and focus on things that really matter in the long run. For me, that means looking at the heart. It's easy to make judgements based on the differences between each other, because this world is pretty diverse, but it's crucial to understand that those differences are more often trivial than they are pivotal. The heart is what really matters, I think the rest will flow from a heart fixed on what's most important.