Aging

Wisdom from Clara - my elderly prayer partner who happens to be legally blind and virtually lame but who sees beyond this world and scales mountains with her prayers:

"Close relatives especially as they grow old can be especially difficult.  I remember taking a class taught by Tony Campolo at Eastern.  He said that some older people become very difficult because in the background they envision that soon death will come like a discordant note over and over again in a symphony.  If a person is fighting death, chances are that they are fighting everyone else.  They want desperately to live.  The oddity is that they often deprive younger people of the joy of living.  

Although I still miss my mother terribly, it was such a blessing when she said to me a few days before she died, 'I have absolutely no fear of death.  Jesus is my God and my all!'   As for some elderly people, I'm sure that they are angry and feel as though they are no longer in control.  The truth is that we never are.  We are blessed if we can lay all our problems at the foot of the Cross."

Blessed Are They That Mourn

And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of compassion and supplication, so that, when they look on Him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps for a first-born. [Zechariah 12:10]

The beauty of the Old Testament prophecy. 

Lord, during this Holy Week. give us a spirit of compassion and supplication.  Cause us to look upon You who was pierced.  Allow us to mourn for You and weep bitterly for You. 

A Troubled Spirit

The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God, shalt thou not despise.  [Psalm 51:17]

How does our inner spirit respond during hard times?  Do we get angry and become bitter towards God?  Or do we allow the pain and difficulty to do a good work within us?  

A troubled spirit.  A broken heart.  Good things?  Apparently they are, in God's eyes.  

In the passion of my Maker, be my sinful soul partaker; may I bear with her my part; of His passion bear the token, in a spirit bowed and broken bear His death within my heart.  Amen.

God is Kind

A broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.  [Psalm 51:17b]

GOD IS KIND.

Why is there so much suffering?  We never will know this side of heaven.  But in the midst of all the pain and difficulties, I have seen the kindness of God over and over.  His daily kindness shows itself through impressions we get while reading scripture, or in prayer, and through the love of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Kindness does not force itself upon another person.  Likewise, God waits for us to come to Him.  It is through our seeking of Him that we experience His kindness.  When the heart shows itself open to the Lord, living water will be there to sustain us.  

God Meant it for Good

Joseph said to them..."But as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive."

Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers.  Think about this.  Sold into slavery by his brothers!  Joseph suffered years as a slave, his father Jacob suffered decades of debilitating grief and the brothers suffered from guilt.  We don't feel so bad for the brothers, do we?  They should suffer after what they did, right?

But somehow, God had a plan within the sinful choices and the suffering.  Jacob's heart-rending grief was not in vain.  GOD HAD A PURPOSE THROUGH IT ALL.  At the end of the story, if this had been New Testament times, Jacob and Joseph could have sung the lyrics: Through it all, through it all, I've learned to trust in Jesus, I've learned to trust in God.  

Has grievous sin and suffering marked your path?  Take heart.  Seek God.  Await His overriding purpose amidst the blinding pain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDxTGW8DPhs  

You Are Mine

Here are the lyrics of a comforting song, written as if the Lord is singing it to us.    At the end, you'll find a link where you can listen.

YOU ARE MINE

I will come to you in the silence,
I will lift you from all your fear.
You will hear my voice
I claim you as my choice,
be still and know that I am here.

I am hope for all who are hopeless
I am eyes for all who long to see.
In the shadows of the night,
I will be your light,
Come and rest in me.

I am strength for all the despairing,
Healing for the ones who dwell in shame.
All the blind will see,
the lame will all run free,
All will know my name.

I am the Word that leads to all freedom,
I am the peace the world cannot give.
I will call your name, embracing all your pain,
Stand up, now walk, and live.

Refrain
Do not be afraid, I am with you
I have called you each by name.
Come, and follow me
I will bring you home.
I love you and you are mine.
 
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL_bN9NeOM0

Afraid of Alzheimer's

My mother, 81, is sliding into the dementia of Alzheimer's.  It runs in her family.  I take more after Mom than Dad and the thought of developing this ravaging disease is scary.  I have been praying that God would spare me from such a future.  Today at church, I saw this prayer:


Lord Jesus Christ,

Take all my freedom, my memory, my understanding and my will. All that I have and cherish You have given me.  I surrender it all to be guided by Your will.  Your love and Your grace are wealth enough for me.  Give me these, Lord Jesus, and I ask for nothing more.  Amen.   St. Ignatius of Loyola, 1491-1556


The above will be my prayer as time marches me towards old age.

So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to all the generations to come. [Psalm 71:18]