Time Is Unrelenting

old age.jpg



Time is Unrelenting

“You know very well that everything that is of time is short-lived. So stretch out your arms to eternity. Long for eternity. This puts you on a higher plane, your heart forging ahead to this unknown, undreamed-of country. This is the way to get a close-up aim at the goal.

Bossis, Gabrielle. He and I (Kindle Locations 3645-3647).
Pauline Books and Media. Kindle Edition.

++++++++++

Thinking about eternity is not escapism, but can be a big help in trying to see what is really important in our lives. What is worth the effort? Aging brings us to a time in our lives when we have to face that question. Each day as it rapidly passes by, shows us the ultimate futility of hoping in anything that is passing. Yet we can still cling. Still working on that.

Greed, asks of us that we use all of our energy to ‘get’, ‘own’, and ‘dominate’ the world around us. Even if everything slips through our fingers, greed can still spur us onward. Greed in all of its manifestations is shortsighted and does not think about consequences. The destruction of the environment for financial gain is probably one of the most obvious. We are not here to devour, but to seek to grow in love. It is our nature to be loving beings, but the love of something less than what we are called to is destructive for both body, and soul.

This life is important, perhaps more important than often realized. Choices matter, how we treat ourselves and others, is probably much more important than we realize. Once we can actually understand how swiftly our lives progress, it is then that maybe we learn. Another thing I am still working on.

Old age is a very interesting time of life. Like every season of our lives, old age has its challenges. Letting go is perhaps one of the most difficult. Each day can bring its lesson in this regard. I can’t run anymore for instances. It would be tragic, and funny to see me trying to do that. I can walk fast, but running? My knees, lower back, and lungs would let me know soon enough how foolish that is. Balance is not what it used to be. Nothing works the way it used to. Yet, I am happy to be aging.

Why is everything so short-lived? I find it funny that people get excited about being immortal, yet we can barely deal with the years we have. In any case, no matter how long we live, in the end, it will speed by.

The eternal aspect of ourselves, our mind, that which is actually only seen and known by God, can wake up when the ‘things’ of our youth are taken from us, one, by one. A call to patient endurance for sure. In the time of our ‘old-age’, we can learn to seek a deeper joy, one that is based on a trusting understanding that we are pilgrims on an often difficult journey, yet we are never alone.

Faith in God does not make life easier, but it does fill it with meaning. We are creatures that seek meaning in our lives. Our libraries, and bookstores, are filled with the thoughts, and insights, of deep thinkers who try to lead us into living more meaningful lives. Some of these books are much better than others.

If our essential nature and our deepest desires are based on finding love, perhaps when Jesus commanded us to ‘Love God with our whole being’ and to ‘love our neighbors as ourselves’ makes perfect sense. Anything less than that will only lead us to deeper frustration. What is loved can’t be bought, owned, or hoarded, it can only be shared. God is the biggest sharer.

The problem is that our ideas of God are often so infantile that it only leads to deeper self-absorption. It takes a lifetime for the Lord to reach most of us, and it seems to be part of our lives, this slow taking away from us what we believe is essential until there is nothing left but for us to surrender. Now that is something I am really working on.-Br.MD

Blog entry information

Author
Mark Dohle
Read time
3 min read
Views
113
Last update

More entries in General

More entries from Mark Dohle

Share this entry