GROWING OLDER<\/p>\n
Today I want to pass on five poems to you. And at the end of this E Votional I\u2019ll give you my take on them.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the first poem. It\u2019s called \u201cUpon Retirement\u201d (modified from Ms. Marie T. Obermann)<\/p>\n
\u201cDear God,
\nHelp me have the grace to understand, when my retired husband becomes an expert in dishwasher loading,
\nLet me grin and sweetly reply each time he asks where I’m going and when I’ll be back.
\nLet me ignore his accusatory words when I’m late.
\nLet me swallow my words, when he makes our whole house the depository for mail, newspapers and things he does not want to misplace.
\nI love the man, Lord, so please help me adjust to his being here, day after day.
\nLet me forget that I was solely in charge and learn to share space and time with him.
\nYou have been good to me, and I thank you for keeping us well and still together.
\nJust help me to remember why it was so important to become a couple all those many years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a whimsical poem by former US Poet laureate Billy Collins.<\/p>\n
\u201cCheerois\u201d<\/p>\n
One bright morning in a restaurant in Chicago
\nas I waited for my eggs and toast,
\nI opened the Tribune only to discover
\nthat I was the same age as Cheerios.
\nIndeed, I was a few months older than Cheerios
\nfor today, the newspaper announced,
\nwas the seventieth birthday of Cheerios
\nwhereas mine had occurred earlier in the year.<\/p>\n
Already I could hear them whispering
\nbehind my stooped and threadbare back,
\nWhy that dude\u2019s older than Cheerios
\nthe way they used to say<\/p>\n
Why that\u2019s as old as the hills,
\nonly the hills are much older than Cheerios
\nor any American breakfast cereal,
\nand more noble and enduring are the hills,<\/p>\n
I surmised as a bar of sunlight illuminated my orange juice.<\/p>\n
I like that poem for what it is and also for who introduced it to me: Sharon Dolan one of my parishoners at Pinnacle Presbyterian Church. Sharon underwent a bone marrow transplant at Mayo and was in the hospital for a month. We are exactly the same age and while she was in Mayo we had many talks about growing older, and all that is bitter sweet about it. Thank you Sharon for Billy Collins and Cheerios.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrowing Older\u201d by the Rev. Vivian Cobb Anderson<\/p>\n
How often do we stop and wonder
\nWhat was it I was going to do?
\nWhat was It I came to get?
\nI can\u2019t remember. I can\u2019t recall.<\/p>\n
Where was that shop I like so much
\nHave they moved way?
\nOr have I grown old
\nAnd just forgotten where they are?
\nI can\u2019t remember.
\nI can\u2019t recall
\nWhat was the name of that woman who greeted me?
\nI know that face from somewhere
\nAnd she knows me
\nBut I can\u2019t recall her name
\nI can\u2019 remember
\nI can\u2019t recall.<\/p>\n
Losing one\u2019s memory
\nIs more than the absence of facts
\nA life is lost
\nIn the process of forgetting
\nMemories become
\nBroken fragments. Shards
\nAnd remains is a dark hole
\nWhere names and places
\nCannot be retrieved
\nI can\u2019t remember.
\nI can\u2019t recall
\nIt will happen one day
\nTo us all.<\/p>\n
On Losing things\u2013the same theme by Nancy Baldwin
\nMy days are filled with
\nlosing things, forgetting things, dropping things, spilling things,
\nBut please dear Lord
\nmay I never lose you, or forget you
\nand when I drop, will you pick me up
\nand spill your gracious love over me always.<\/p>\n
Lost Keys
\nMost merciful and loving Father
\nYou care for the sparrow\u2019s fall and know
\nmy sitting down and my rising up
\nsurely nothing is too insignificant for your loving attention
\nI lost my keys on my shopping trip to the mall yesterday
\nFinding then would be nothing short of a miracle
\nsince I cannot remember where I was when I saw them last
\nnor do I know at what point in my shopping I know longer had them
\nI am not asking for a miracle but I need your help<\/p>\n
Am I becoming too absentminded and forgetful in my old age to function safely?
\nShould I be thinking of the next step when independent living is no longer advisable
\nAnd will I know when that time comes?<\/p>\n
I never expected to live into my eighties, but here I am
\nSo far I have been able to see the humor in all the changes age has brought
\nAnd you know I have always looked forward eagerly to the future
\nincluding the last stage of life\u2013death and whatever adventure follows
\nBut worrying about my keys has not seemed funny at all, and I have even been tempted to depression\u2013and old problem I thought I had put behind me long ago.
\nMy reaction to losing my keys makes me concerned and a little frightened about growing older
\nI am trying to let go and turn it all over to you, but it is so difficult. Please help! I ask in the name of your Son, my Lord. Amen<\/p>\n
\u2013Helen Hobbs<\/p>\n
In the Bible old people are valued and useful, unlike our society where old people are tossed on the scrap heap of insignificance. Abraham and Sarah, approaching 100 became the father and mother of the Hebrew nation. Moses led the children of Israel out of the trammels of Egypt when he was well past retirement age. Elizabeth, old and barren, became pregnant with the child who grew up to be John the Baptist.<\/p>\n
Here are some final thoughts about growing older:<\/p>\n
Before middle age: do not fear
\nAfter middle age Do not regret<\/p>\n
If you can possibly do it
\nget together with old classmates, old colleagues, old friends
\nIt\u2019s just that there\u2019s not that much time left.<\/p>\n
Treat sickness with optimism
\nwhether rich or poor
\nEveryone has to go through birth sickness and death
\nThere are no exceptions that\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
Do not be afraid or worried when you are sick
\nsettle all the issues beforehand
\nand you can leave without regret.<\/p>\n
If worries can cure your sickness
\ngo ahead and worry
\nIf worries can prolong your life, go ahead and worry
\nIf worries can exchange for happiness , go ahead and worry<\/p>\n
Let the doctors handle your body
\nLet God handle your life
\nBut be responsible for your moods<\/p>\n
For we walk by faith and not by sight.
\nIn happy MOMENTS PRAISE GOD
\nIn difficult MOMENT SEEK God
\nIn quiet moments worship god
\nIn painful moments trust God<\/p>\n
treasure the things in your life
\nthere are four things in life to treasure
\nyour old body; pay more attention to your health more
\nonly you can do this rely on yourself for this
\nyour family for they are dear to you
\nyour companion treasure every moment you have together
\nfor one of you will leave first
\nyour old friends
\nseize all opportunities to meet up with them
\nfor such opportunities will become rare as time goes by<\/p>\n
God loves you because of who God is
\nnot because of anything you did or did not do<\/p>\n
everything can change in the blink of any eye
\nbut don\u2019t worry, God never blinks<\/p>\n
five things you cannot recover in life
\nthe stone after its\u2019 thrown
\nthe word after its said
\nthe occasion after its missed
\nthe time after its gone
\nthe person, after they die<\/p>\n
each friend represents a world in us, a world not possibly born until they arrive
\nand it is only by this meeting that a new
\nworld is born
\nyou are on of God\u2019s children
\nfrom the time you were born
\nuntil the time you die.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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