Aches & Pains

October 6, 2018

I swore I would never let it happen. When I was young(er), I’d listen to old people whose conversations seemed to consist solely of the various aches and pains they were experiencing, and I have to confess, I wasn’t very sympathetic. How could I be? My body was doing just fine most of the time. My sixties however, haven’t been very kind to me. 

Sparing the gory details, let’s just say that I notice body parts that used to quietly do their job without complaint. As time goes by however, they become increasingly vociferous, rude, and even hostile. Makes me wonder if they’ve been reading Saul Alinsky behind my back.

As I write tonight, I’m sitting in the lobby of a rather nice hotel awaiting a dinner for the leaders of our church’s latest sacrificial giving campaign, and it occurs to me that there are a lot of people who haven’t been given the privilege of being 69, and many others for whom that attainment has come with far more sorrow, heartache, and pain than I have known. I am sitting in a beautiful hotel lobby, not in a hellhole of a prison or in a hospital waiting room, anxiously waiting for bad news. I am not in fear for my life, and am surrounded by family and friends whom I love, and who love me. When God’s angels were flying over the world with their bags of blessings, one of them broke over me.

So I am thankful that even though I feel certain things in my body that keep tapping on my shoulder looking for attention, I feel certain things in my body tapping me on my shoulder looking for attention. It means God has given me another day of life to praise him and serve others. That’s no small gift. So, forgive me if this old man is blathering on as he said he’d never do. I’m not complaining; I’m praising.