Updated: Apr 26, 2023
The phrase “growing older” is much more to my liking that “getting old!” In going through one of my bookshelves this week, I came across a book I gave to my mother on her 75th birthday. Now that I have reached that same milestone, it means a great deal to me. This is one special part of The Gift of Years, by Marion Stroud.
The Gift of Years
“The gift of years is an invisible package that must be
opened and enjoyed one day at a time. We cannot buy
it, sell it or hoard it as a hedge against the time when
we are confronted with a certain shortage of future.
The gift of years contains freedom from old ties but
responsibility for new ones. It holds joy and pain,
laughter and tears, success and defeat, triumph and
disaster.
Within its wrappings we may discover the next- but-one
generation. We struggle to become supportive but
non-interfering in-laws; loving grandparents, great-aunts
or uncles; wise counsellors or receptive counselees.
We learn to be people who are willing to receive as well
as to share, to hold out the experience we have gained over the years in an open hand, so that it can be accepted or rejected at will.
The gift of years may hold bodily weakness and limitations
but it can also contain increased spiritual strength and
effectiveness.
It is a free gift that cannot be earned nor must we take
it for granted, for it is not presented to all equally.
The gift of years must simply be received with thanksgiving, for it is the gift of life itself.”
I like to add the word “gracefully” to the phrase “growing older.” That makes it “Growing Older Gracefully!” This season of life, too, is a time of growth- in learning to deal with growing limitations, in persevering when we feel like giving up, in understanding that “growing older” simply brings a season of life I hope to live “gracefully!”
Elizabeth
A special Easter blessing this year is the birth of baby lambs at a local farm. Two were born on Good Friday, two on Easter Monday and two the Second Sunday of Easter. These beautiful creatures teach us so much!
One of the little lambs was rejected by his mother – he had a bit of a limp, and was smaller than his twin. That was very sad for me to watch, but what a joy to see other mothers come to nurse the little one….and there were all the friends and family who came with bottle in hand to make sure he was fed. Such loving care!
I remembered my children’s little “night-night” song as I watched the little lambs and actually sang it to the little lamb in my arms:
Jesus, tender Shepherd, hear me;
Bless Thy little lamb tonight;
Through the darkness be Thou near me;
Watch my sleep till morning light.
All this day Thy hand has led me,
And I thank Thee for Thy care;
Thou hast clothed me, warmed and fed me,
Listen to my evening prayer.
The image of Jesus as the “Good Shepherd” has always been so meaningful for me. The Good Shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to search for the one little lost lamb and brings it home rejoicing; the Good Shepherd who gives his life for the sheep; the Good Shepherd who calls his sheep by name and leads them out; the Good Shepherd who leads beside still waters and green pastures… and so much more. The Good Shepherd is the Lamb of God, the great and final sacrifice, freeing us from the power of sin and death and securing our salvation.
In Psalm 23 David writes from the standpoint of a sheep speaking about its owner. In John 10, Jesus speaks as the Good Shepherd. He describes his relationship to his sheep-- we the people who have come into his ownership and under his care. So interesting to see things from the perspective of the sheep and the shepherd!
These precious little lambs born in this season of renewal and new birth are special gifts reminding us of the relationship God longs to have with each of us. Psalm 100:3 affirms this: “Know that the LORD is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”
Elizabeth
Today is “Easter Monday” a day of quiet reflection on the gifts and beauty of the preceding week. I came across this beautiful prayer in the final days of the Lenten journey, and it is the prayer of my heart this Eastertide:
“Spirit of God, move through my life with winds of blessing!
Breathe in me, wash over me, empower me.
Reveal! Illuminate! Make known!
Balance! Harmonize! Unify!
Attend, transform, guide!
Soften, support, sustain!
Animate, revitalize, renew!
Remember! Evoke! Behold!”
The prayer comes from Sister Macrina Wiederkehr’s book Gold in Your Memories, which I enjoyed re-reading during Lent this year. I was challenged to reflect on the “treasures” hidden in the memories of my lifetime:
“Abandoned dreams, forgotten beauty
hidden sorrows, hidden joys
unused energies, unknown strengths
lost ages, undiscovered gifts
unsung songs, neglected relationships
unclaimed wisdom, unattended anger
cautious love, incomplete forgiveness
timid truth, buried stories, lost memories…
…all are veins of gold waiting to be mined…”
“My Life Flows On” has been a special song for me this year, calling me to reflect on the kinds of blessings the storms of my life have brought me.
“My life flows on in endless song,
above earth’s lamentation.
I catch the sweet, though far-off hymn
that hails a new creation.
No storm can shake my inmost calm
while to the Rock I’m clinging
Since Love is lord of heav’n and earth,
How can I keep from singing?”
Taking time for reflection is always time well-spent; a helpful Lenten discipline that would be meaningful in every season of life.
Elizabeth