And on that day when my strength is failing
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing your praise unending
10,000 years and then forevermore.
From ‘10,000 Reasons’ by Matt Redman
For children of my era, miracles happened on a daily basis. We climbed trees, played on teeter totters, monkey bars, swings (sometimes on rope tied to a tree branch!). We sometimes ran around all summer barefoot. We attempted eating inedible substances, devised games which held a certain degree of derring-do (bikes and plywood ramps and various other hurdles such as ditches and brooks may have been involved). Wasp nests were sometimes targets for slingshots – that is until the occupants emerged. Sticks and stones were de rigueur most days for one use or another. We were also sternly advised to stay out and play and not to come back inside (admonition gleefully accepted). The marshmallow-eating contests may be why those delicacies hold less appeal to this day, except atop sweet potato casserole, of course.
Ah, youth! Young and carefree and invincible. And, for many years after adulthood takes over, that sense of foreverness continues to keep us empowered and undaunted. There is a point somewhere along the line when a new kind of reality sets in, often unwelcome, which demands our attention in nagging, irksome ways. Conversations which we vowed we would never take part in, begin to pepper our get togethers. Medical stuff like doctor appointments, medications, treatments for one thing or another, surgeries, etc. sheesh. After a span of time where we refuse to accept this thing called aging, we come to make peace with it and relax in its presence. It is then that we can confidently look to Jesus to show us how to be fruitful in our worship and service at this stage.
Scripture is helpful as always. King David says in Psalm 39:4 : “Lord, help me to know how fleeting my time on earth is. Help me to know how limited is my life and that I’m only here for a moment more.” When Jesus tells his disciples that he is with them to the very end of the age, I think, also, that he is with us to the very end of our participation in this age, to the last breath we draw. Psalm 116:15 says: “When one of God’s holy lovers dies, it is costly to the Lord, touching his heart.” Heaven draws near, earth loses its appeal, we release our grip, and find ourselves ‘home.’ Then we’ll go looking for a good ole rope swing! PD
