Wednesday; October 13

Spending much of my early life in South Florida, we didn’t have much of a fall season. I guess the temperatures would cool a bit (and the humidity would lessen), but we didn’t experience the great color changes that most of rest of the country enjoyed. Since we weren’t surrounded by the fall colors, I don’t know much about the process that brings out the golds of the aspens or the reds of the maples, but one thing that I did learn was that this change was the natural byproduct of the maturing process. When things were new – like the beginning of spring – everything put on a sharp green color and new growth, yet as the year comes to an end, the foliage begins to fade away, but not without a flourish of amazing colors. The change symbolizes the fragility of life, but for a brief time, the colors are vivid!

Have we thought about how human life parallels the growing season? When we are young, things are new and exciting. There is new growth and exhilarating discoveries, yet as we age, the fragility of life becomes a reality. We become more aware of our own humanity because it doesn’t take nearly as much to separate us from our source of exitance. Unfortunately, when we could be at our brightest and most colorful, people tend to dismiss us as waning and aging. Youth always has the advantage in life, but we mustn’t overlook the beauty of our older maturing people.
Do we know someone whose life is sailing away into their sunset years? What can we do to help them stay vital and relevant? Who knows, the beauty they possess may be just what we need to add a vibrant hue to the splendor of our world.

Think About It!

Popular posts from this blog

Thursday; May 3

I have a fish tank that allows my three Bettas (Larry, Darrell and Darrell) to live in the same structure, but remain hidden from each other – well sort of.   When I go to feed the fish, I believe that one of the Darrell’s can sort of see that the other Darrell is getting fed and he will linger over on that side of the tank even after I put his food in his tank.   I have to tap on the side of the tank where his food is floating to help him refocus and eat.   I get the impression that he is so interested in what is going on in the other Darrell’s tank that he can’t enjoy his own food. I have been told that the brain of a fish is pretty small – which explains their inability to process “blessings”, but are we guilty of the same malady as Darrell?   Are we so worried (or consumed) by what happens to the people around us that we fail to realize what is going on with us?   Are we envious of the blessings that others are receiving and end up missing out on what we have been given?   Are w
Read more

Thursday; February 14

         While most of us are familiar with today being Valentine’s Day, there are some who actually refer to February 14 th as “St. Valentine’s Day”.  This title is often affixed to a criminally historic event known as “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” on February 14, 1929 in Chicago, but that is another story for another time.  Not knowing much about the history of “Saint Valentine” I did a little research and found out he was a Roman religious leader who was martyred in 269 AD.  According to my limited research Valentine was killed because of his encouragement of Roman men (especially soldiers) to marry which was in violation of Claudias’ edict that prohibited marriage to keep their minds singularly focused on their task of defending the Empire.  Somehow, from this beginning – and possibly embellished by Chaucer – St. Valentine became intertwined with the concept of romantic love.           I am not really sure how February 14 th became connected with love, but inspired by thi
Read more

Wednesday; December 6

What does it mean to be a leader? I subscribe to the belief that a leader is someone who seeks the best for others and works with them to achieve their potential. There are others; however, who define leadership as the ability to have a vision and the tenacity to get their own way. Leaders who are this way are often portrayed as having developed the maturity to manipulate people to do things their way. However, is the ability to drive people in our direction mature or is it childish? The Christians of the 1st Century came from a lot of different backgrounds and had to work hard to work together. As the Apostle Paul challenged Christians in the city of Ephesus he challenged them to accept individual differences, “… until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. “ (Ephesians 4:13). Bossiness was not to be viewed as a sign of maturity, a willingness to wo
Read more