Streams of Mercy

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