Just Outside My Door 12/29/11

It doesn’t seem possible, but we will be into a new year in just two more days. As I write this column on Dec. 23, we have only a trace of snow on the ground. By the time you read this, we may have much more. Nevertheless, January has arrived and we have, so to speak, a clean slate to fill with all that will take place in the year 2012.

As the years come and go, ones age creeps up and eventually they arrive at what some say is the golden age. Others have said it’s only golden for doctors, but I have discovered there are also some advantages. For instance, one doesn’t have to try hard any more to behave in a certain way, for others will just say, “It’s because they’re getting older.” They may not always dress right or have their hair perfect, but they often have a lot of wisdom under their cap. When they forget something, it’s often laid to growing older even if the person has always been forgetful.

Then, usually as people grow older they can get away with saying, “I can’t go because I’m too tired or I don’t feel well.” That’s to be expected in older folk. Moreover, they have lived long enough not to be surprised at most anything that happens, but do you know there’s a wealth of knowledge in many of them?

Senior adults have lived and learned from past mistakes and hard times the young may never face in our affluent world. There may be a day in the future, however, when life is not like it is today. Therefore, it behooves the young folk to take a few lessons in determination, faithfulness and hard work from older people. Life is not always a “bowl of cherries” or fun. There’s more to life than that and the world or Uncle Sam doesn’t owe anyone a living.

It behooves younger parents to not only tell their children, but also be a good example of how to be successful in life and money doesn’t accomplish it. Don’t worry about tomorrow, there’s enough to think about today. Just live one day at a time. As you all face this new year, determine to make changes if needed in your life so that when life ends for you, people will say that over the years you chose wisely and lived your life with honesty and integrity. I believe that cannot happen without God in charge. My prayer for you all, especially Christians, as you begin this new year is as follows:

Yesterday, today and tomorrow

By Helen Steiner Rice

Yesterday’s dead,

Tomorrow’s unborn,

So there’s nothing to fear

And nothing to mourn

For all that is past

And all that has been

Can never return

To be lived once again

And what lies ahead

Or the things that will be

Are still in God’s hands

So it is not up to me

To live in the future

That is God’s great unknown,

For the past and the present

God claims for His own,

So all I need do

Is to live for today

And trust God to show me

The Truth and the Way

For it’s only the memory

Of things that have been

And expecting tomorrow

To bring trouble again

That fills my today,

Which God wants to bless,

With uncertain fears

And borrowed distress

For all I need live for

Is this little minute,

For life’s Here and Now

And Eternity’s in it.



I wish you all a Happy and Blessed New Year.