Swim meet results – Week 5
October 3, 2017
Walterine Foret
October 4, 2017
Sometimes we have to look at growing old from a humorous side. The following edited article is called, “Just Thinking.”
Lying around, pondering the problems of the world, I realized that at my age, I don’t care about many things. For example, if walking is good for your health, the mail person would be immortal. A whale swims all day, only eats fish, and drinks water, but is still fat. A rabbit runs, and hops, and only lives 15 years, while a tortoise doesn’t run, and doesn’t do very much yet it lives for 150 years. And they tell us to exercise? I don’t think so.
Now that I’m older, here is what I’ve discovered: (1) I started out with nothing, and I still have most of it. (2) I mostly enjoy my wild oats with prunes and all-bran. (3) I don’t remember being absent-minded. (4) I don’t remember being absent-minded. (5) Getting older was easier than getting wiser. (6) Some days you’re the top dog, some days you’re the hydrant.
(7) Kids in the back seat cause accidents. (8) Accidents in the back seat cause kids. (9) It is hard to make a comeback when you have not been anywhere. (10) The world only beats a path to your door when you are in the bathroom. (11) When I’m finally holding all the right cards, everyone wants to play chess. (12) Meeting expenses is not hard. They’re everywhere.
(13) The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth. (14) These days, I spend a lot of time thinking about the hereafter. I go somewhere to get something, and then wonder what I am “here after.” (15) It is a lot better to be seen than viewed.
My mother died this past April, and many people expressed their sympathies to me and my family in many ways but especially through cards. One card had the following meditation entitled “The Consolidation of Eternal Life.” I have used this at funerals and people have asked me for a copy of this reflection.
“A great many people believe that our eternal life will begin at the time of our death. In reality our eternal life with God began on the day of our Baptism, the day we became children of God. As adopted members of God’s family, we become heirs of Heaven; as our heritage, God shares his very life with us – life that is eternal, life that transcends all time and space.”
“When we reflect on this great truth, we can come to realize that those we love who have gone before us, marked with the sign of faith, have not been separated from us. They are really much closer to us because they now live in the fullness of God’s love, a love that embraces each of us, whether here on earth or in the heavenly kingdom. It is in this divine love that we are truly united, not only to God, but to each other.”
“At a time of mourning, we often feel that we are distant from those we love. Actually, they are united with us now more than ever before. No more do they know the restraints of the human condition. Now they can love us with a deeper love, a fuller love, a love that God’s own love has enriched. No, death does not separate us from those we love. It deepens our union with God and with each other.”
We no longer live in a three-story universe: heaven, earth and hell. Heaven is being with God and God is everywhere. Although we cannot see them, our loved ones are with us and they are pulling for us. They want us to be where they are. Don’t disappoint them. Be focused on where you are going in this life and the next.
‘When we reflect on this great truth, we can come to realize that those we love who have gone before us, marked with the sign of faith, have not been separated from us. They are really much closer to us because they now live in the fullness of God’s love, a love that embraces each of us, whether here on earth or in the heavenly kingdom.’
