Getting Old

I was out having dinner with a friend just before Christmas. During appetizers, he mentioned that it’s apparently common for older people to pass away around the holidays. I hadn’t noticed this. My friend joked that we’re next. I said, yes, our generation is quickly becoming the patriarchs and matriarchs of our families. It doesn’t seem like that long ago we were sitting at the kiddie table at holiday gatherings.

Life is short, and here we are again ushering in a new year. I have one resolution for 2018—to have a good time all the time. It can be done. I have determined that our outer world is representative of our inner world, so be careful what you think and how you relate to the world around you. As one New Age thought leader put it, “Remember to ignore that there is a circumstance happening. There is no circumstance happening. All you’re witnessing is the intensity of your own presence, colored with your own frequency of choice. That’s all you ever experience. What frequency of choice are you infusing into your presence with at this time? And in this moment? And the next moment?”

We basically have total command of how we think and react to any given situation, and it’s safe to say that it’s always a better option to come from a place of grace and dignity. Hopefully, you all had plenty of opportunities to practice grace and dignity at the recent holiday gatherings with relatives. That’s the real proving ground. Get out there in the trenches and give your spirituality a real test.

I am reminded by a little story my lovely ex-wife Pat once told me. There was this young soul in the spirit world and everywhere it went, it exclaimed, “I am the light!, I am the light!, I am the light!” After a while, this started to annoy some of the other souls and they complained to God. One day, this young soul happened to be at the same event as God, and it approached the Almighty. With great exuberance, the soul exclaimed, “I am the light! I am the light! I am the light!

God responded, “You sure are the light. What are you doing with all that light my son?” The little soul shrugged and couldn’t offer up any specific plan. So God said, “I got an idea. Why don’t you journey down to Earth and shine your light upon all the inhabitants that you meet there. The soul eagerly agreed to take on this mission, and was soon born into a very poor family in the ghetto of the most economically depressed and crime-ridden city in America.

During prayers one night, the soul asked God why it was born into such hardship. God answered, “Because I assumed that you wanted to go shine all your wonderful light where it was most needed.”