The Old Grey Mare - Part III

From My Perspective - - -

The process of aging can have many peaks and valleys – the death of loved ones and friends; the increasing maladies – aches and pains; the oxymoron lonely hours that can seem endless and time that seems so fleeting; the wisdom one longs to share and the infrequency of those who seek it; the realization that death is closer while ambitions and goals of the past are not all fulfilled.

Some feel as though they were in a Soap Opera Drama – “Like Sands Through The Hourglass, So Are The Days of Our Lives.” The sand all too steadily filtering down – and time similarly passing all too quickly. One can reflect back to a Perry Como Lyric of many years ago:

Magic moments, mem'ries we've been sharin'
Magic moments, when two hearts are carin'
Time can't erase the memory of - These magic moments filled with love
The telephone call that tied up the line for hours and hours
The Saturday dance I got up the nerve to send you some flowers…
When two hearts are carin' - - Time can't erase the memory of,
These magic, moments, Filled with love!

As Moses contemplated life and what needed to be accomplished, he wrote his thoughts down in Psalm 90: “Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. You return man to dust…For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. You sweep them away as with a flood; they 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…The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away…So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom…Have pity on your servants! Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!”

In James 4:13-15, one is reminded: “Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit -- yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that."

The Days of Our Lives – not just like Sand Seen Through The Hourglass – but also a mist, a vapor – appearing for a brief moment and then vanishing away. Like Moses, ones aim and focus should be: “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom…” The words of an old hymn should comfort and inspire one in the journey of life:

Never a trial that he is not there,
Never a burden that he doth not bear,
Never a sorrow that he doth not share,
Moment by moment, I'm under his care.

Moment by moment, I'm kept in his love;
Moment by moment, I've life from above;
Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine,
Moment by moment, O Lord, I am thine.

Ones life can be lived with misery, regret, bitterness, complaint, negative perspective – or – it can be lived in the joy and comfort of the presence of the Lord; His faithful care; His strength made perfect in ones weakness; His never leaving or forsaking. Make the positive choice! Consider these things with me!