Youth is wasted on the young or so they say - I wonder. If I had a young body would my steps be as measured, would I linger as long to watch a sunset, drink as deeply the laughter of a child, sit or nap as much? I wonder if I would still see each day as a gift, each breath as God given, each encounter with a friend, a treasure to be cherished.

It is assumed that the wisdom that often comes with age would fuel and inform our young lives if we knew then what we know now. I think not. With a strong body I would be out conquering mountains, slaying dragons, rescuing fair maidens, proving my worth and value to the world and to myself.

So I thank God my body is slowing down, my eyes are growing weak, for I have a real chance to be still and know You, my God, my friend. Please keep me from the allure of perpetual youth. Help me to celebrate the me I am today, a little more dependent, a little more in need of your strength, believing a little more that apart from you I can nothing, that your grace is sufficient and your strength is most certainly manifested in weakness – in my weakness!

May these words of Paul speak to the deepest places in my heart – “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Help to make these old eyes see the eternal and give me the grace to grow old gracefully, embracing the gifts that this stage in life offers me - for they are many.

Suggestion for the month

This month ask God to help you to be comfortable in your own skin, young or old, to celebrate the unique stage of life you are in, naming and embracing the gifts of your unique stage and life circumstances, for that is the very place where you will meet and experience God.