REMEMBER, THE SUREST THINGS CAN CHANGE
Barbara and I were were back in North Carolina in mid-February. We traveled back to see our N.C. family, to visit The Pines, our anticipated new home, and for me to attend the board meeting of Pfeiffer University, of which I am a trustee.
As we were touring The Pines for a second time we noticed construction on a new dining room. The construction was hidden by white dry-wall. Residents had been invited to write brief and pithy sayings on the wall. Here are some of my favorites:
–What did our parents do to kill boredom before the internet? I asked my 26 brothers and sisters and they didn’t know either.
–Never waste your time explaining yourself to someone who’s committed to misunderstanding you.
–The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail. Travel too fast and you miss all you are traveling for.
–If one door closes and another door opens–your house is probably haunted.
–The only person who likes change is a baby with a wet diaper.
–Remember, the surest things can change.
The old joke goes: , “How many Presbyterians does it take to change a light bulb?” and the answer which comes screaming back from the congregation is: “CHANGE?!?!”
I was remembering our February trip to The Pines the other day. That was in February, less than two months ago. Barbara and I had our future all mapped out. We would get our house ready for the market this fall, list it next January, sell it for a handsome price, and move to the Pines in Davidson, N.C. by this time next year.
I keep coming back again and again to the saying, “If you want to make God laugh, tell God your plans.”
Life can turn on a dime.
The Psalmist got it right:
“God, you turn us back to dust,
and say, “Back to what you were, you mortals!
You sweep us away, we are like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning;
in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it fades and withers.”
–from Psalm 90
Who knows what the world will look like in January 2021? Who knows what it will look like on June 1 of this year?
As we age we long for stability and no surprises. Alas, it cannot be so. Gerontologists tell us that older people face more debilitating change than any age group in society: death of loved ones; change in living situations; financial constraints. The list is long.
But as people of faith, we are not without resources as life pulls the rug our from under our feet. The old hymn, “Abide With Me" expresses our faith exquisitely. It was written by Henry Lyte in 1847. Henry Lyte wrote this song as he was slowly dying from turberculosis. Just three weeks after completing the hymn, Lyte passed from this mortal realm into God’s eternal kingdom.
Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide;
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me.
Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see—
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.
I need Thy presence every passing hour;
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s pow’r?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.
I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness;
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.
Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies;
Heav’n’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
Listen to the choir of Norwich Cathedral perform this beautiful hymn.