Monday, May 17, 2010

Growing older

I got up this morning and it feels like someone kicked me in the behind. I assume that is not something that is supposed to be that way.

I'm working hard to be in good enough shape to be able to live long enough to see my grandchildren graduate high school. It's a modest goal, I'm sure.

The Bible speaks of growing older in modest terms, by the way.

In Ecclesiastes 12 we read, "Honor and enjoy your Creator while you're still young,
Before the years take their toll and your vigor wanes,
Before your vision dims and the world blurs
And the winter years keep you close to the fire.

In old age, your body no longer serves you so well.
Muscles slacken, grip weakens, joints stiffen.
The shades are pulled down on the world.
You can't come and go at will. Things grind to a halt.
The hum of the household fades away.
You are wakened now by bird-song.
Hikes to the mountains are a thing of the past.
Even a stroll down the road has its terrors.
Your hair turns apple-blossom white,
Adorning a fragile and impotent matchstick body.
Yes, you're well on your way to eternal rest,
While your friends make plans for your funeral.

Life, lovely while it lasts, is soon over.
Life as we know it, precious and beautiful, ends.
The body is put back in the same ground it came from.
The spirit returns to God, who first breathed it.

8 It's all smoke, nothing but smoke.
The Quester says that everything's smoke."

We come and we go quickly, it says. When I published a book a while back, it was a gratifying moment for any number of reasons but first and foremost because it put me in the Library of Congress where every book published in this country is catalogued. It meant there is evidence I existed. I was here. I did something.

Life, lovely while it lasts, is soon over, the Bible says. Life as we know it, precious and beautiful, ends.

I take that to mean sometimes you feel like someone kicked you in the behind.

See, God has a purpose for us all.

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