A4 - THE
JOURNAl, Thursday,
December 29, 2016
.:iiiii:!;iiii;:iiiii!i;iiiiii
The Mirror
In Ecclesiastes. Wise old King Solomon said we should
enjoy our youth because, as the sign over my desk asserts,
"Old age is not for sissies." Well ... that isn't exactly what
Solomon said, but it's close.
When I told my wife that I felt like I was really growing
old, she said, "No, Honey, we are old!"
Bob Hope' s theme song was "Thanks for the Memories,"
and aren't we all thankful for ours. I've always thought
that memories are what make growing old tolerable. I've
now reached that time when my mind is losing more and
more of it's dependability, but there are zillions of stim-
ulating thoughts still tucked away in there somewhere. I
share some of those that I've harvested from other fields
when they surface. Here's apoem written by John T. West
Jr. that I ran across about 20 years ago,
The Mirror
The other day, I happened by chance,
As I passed a mirror, to give it a glance.
And I wondered who that oM man couM be,
Who, with his mouth wide open, was looking at me.
His bald head was sprinkled with a little gray fu ,
And he wasn't at all handsome (like I always was).
He looked like a sack of mis-mated parta,
Put together without aid of instructions or charts.
And while I know that my shoulders don't slump,
This person's were misshapen in one ugly hump/
Now, if that was my image, I only can say,
They don't make mirrors like they did in my day.
Before she passed away, I thanked one of my favorite
cousins for offering me an exercise program that she said
would help me when I reached this age. I thought some of
you might like to try. it. She said, "Begin by standing on a
comfortable surface where you have plenty of room at each
side. With a 5-1b potato sack in each hand, extend your arms
straight out fi'om your sides and hold them there as long as
you can. Try to reach a full minute, and then relax. Each
day you will find that yo, can hold this position for just a
bit longer. After a couple of weeks, move up to 10-1b potato
sacks. Then try 50-1b potato sacks and then eventually try
to get to where you can l;ft a 100-1b sack in each hand and
hold your arms straight for more than a full minute. After
you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each sack."
There! Now. don't you feel better? Let's be thankful
for that.
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It is Tuesday at 6 am and 36 degrees out. The car win-
dows are frosted over. I have cranked the heat up today.
Yesterday, Debbie and I had the A/C and the heat on at
different times of the day. Strange Christmas for me. I
have house side pick up for trash now, usually I just take
it out myself. One broken ann that is slow healing is a
little tough. I appreciate the city staff helping me out.
I think Santa must be a little fired and some what stressed
also as be flew over all the countries of the world and
saw death, fires, wars and hatred. He could see children
living in squalor and the dead yet unburied. Yes, I think
Santa cried!
My Christmas was a hodge podge of feelings, memories
and emotiors as I ran the gamut of joy to sadness from
events of this year. God who made tl" is earth created only
goodness. We were to be stewards. I am grateful for those
who try to preserve the earth, mentor others, use compa',.-
sion in their respite care for broken bodies, and provide
counseling with kindness for those who wander the streets.
I asked myself, "Well, Jeanette what would be a great
New Year's gift to the world?"
In reading the world news we have lost some amazing
voices in the entertainment world. Some died from drugs,
alcohol and violence....I could ask for this generation to
find some joy to fill their soul and addictions to be lifted.
Young people today are into computers and gaming that
they have lost track of how to have family time and play
board games, and putting up the cell phones. We are too
busy for too long.
I would ask GOd to grant us a true love for our family, and
discipline. There are rules and consequences for all our
actions.
I would ask for a large basket of honor and integrity
to be by our bedside to grab our attention each morning.
I would ask God to grant us understanding among
nations; in place of the hands of power in the White House,
ever-hovering over button starting wars.
I would ask God to grant the turmoil between oil com-
panies and contaminating sacred burial ground to end.
I would ask God that our children are educated. I would
ask God to see that we keep teachers well paid and in
Oklahoma when they graduate.
I would ask God for some quality medical treatment for
our wounded military men and women.
The biggest "thing" I would ask is the gift of accepting
others. We should have the right to choose life in the
fullest.
And last is to have others look into their )wn hearts
seeking peace and wisdom. Yeah, I'd like a large box all
wrapped up just for everyone on New Year's Day.
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When I brainstorm column topics it always seems
that after Christmas (and sometimes before Christ-
mas) the idea reappears to address the topic of
stress...specifically, how to stress less. Looking at
the calendar last week and the predicable topic sug-
gestion "Stress Less in 2017" caused in me an inward
groan. How many ways can you re-present simple
stress relievers like breathing, walking, de-cluttering
and time-outs? 1 don't want my writing to become
predictable or trite; you, the readers, deserve more
than that. So I discarded the idea.
This morning I woke up to my devotional and
though Christmas is officially past, decided to keep
reading Matthew Henry's commentary on Luke's
account of Christ's birth. Stars and brackets revealed
I had spent time there before, but what caught my
eye this morning was the activity in the temple eight
days after Jesus' birth. This is when Joselrh and
Mary went to regis .er Jesus w,th the Churcb as was
required of all first-born sons.
The first person they encounter is a man named
Simeon who recognizes this baby as the Messiah.
Entire sermons have been preached on this mail
Simeon; history traced as to his position in the
church. But wha* caught my eye was the last sen-
tence of his prophetic words. In the King James
Version it reads, ",4 light to lighten the Gentiles and
the glory of thy people Israel." Suddenly my brains
starts clicking...a light to lighten, eight days after
Christmas, I think here is a new column!
No one knows the exact calendar date of Jesus'
birth and many tlaeories exist of how it came to be
December 25. I wonder if it is purely serendipitous
that our New Year begins eight days after Christmas.
"Wait!" you say; it is actually seven. That is true
but the reality of it is between hangovers, parades,
football sleeping through half the day; we get
serious abolJt the New Year on January 2na eight
days later.
Often I have heard Jesus referred to as a Light to
dispel darkness, but "a light to lighten" was new
to me. Yes, light illuminates our path making our
steps sure; possibly Mr. Henry meant enlighten the
Gentiles (only a linguist might know). But today,
to me, lighten means make your load less heavy; in
21st century American this translates "stress less".
I was on a roll.
I grabbed my Bible with a very thorough subject
index and looked up'stress" only to find no entry. (I
guess this is a relatively new descriptive of human
tension.) I then turned to "anxiety" and hit the pro-
verbial jackpot. "Anxiety--a disturbed state of mind
produced by real or imaginary fears ".
One may not agree with me that anxiety and stress
are non-identical twins. ! see one as affecting the
mind and the other affecting the body. Next the index
listed the "causes of" anxiety as presented in the
Bible: (a) "brother's hatred, son's rebellion, king's
decree, child's absence, son's sickness, friend's
delay"; are these not the very same things that bring
anxiety and stress to our lives today? All any of us
have to do is insert a name before the action to make
it personal and bring it home.
The only other entry under anxiety is "overcome
by" (how excited I was getting--stress busters in a
nutshell!) They include "trust, upward look, God's
provision, angel's word, prayer, assurance of God's
sovereignty, reliance on the Holy Spirit." A smile
broke across my face. It really is so simple!
Some of the overcome by's are directed specifi-
cally to those with an active walk with God such as
relying on the Holy Spirit and assurance of God's
sovereignty. The others are accessible to everyone.
God's provision is granted to all; we wake up breath-
ing, heart beating no matter what circumstances we
find ourselves in and that is only the beginning of
His provision. Several require action on our part be
it looking upward, trusting (in someone unseen) and
prayer. The question is how bad do you want a stress
free New Year?
My favorite Christmas card this year had a simple
hand-written line from a popular carol. It read,
"yonder breaks a new and glorious dawn." No greater
words of encouragement could or can be offered.
Look up! And have an excellent New Year.
x~
