On Growing Old
The Basket
It was just an ordinary run to the dump — some old boards, bags of garbage, and a bit of Spring cleaning. I tossed away a broken laundry basket full of old worn out shoes that once belonged to my children. But it stopped me in my tracks. As I studied those shoes, I remembered taking my eight kids to the store, buying them boots or runners, the smiles on their faces with a new pair of footwear. They played football on the front lawn, ran through the mud, climbed snowbanks or milked a cow in those shoes.
But now all but one of those kids have left home. The shoes that carried my loved ones no longer have purpose. So there I stood at the landfill, tears in my eyes as raw memories raced through my mind. I took a deep breath and sighed, “I’m growin’ old.”Continue reading
True Hope
Or on YouTube
True hope does not lie in knowing the future, but in knowing its Author. I think many people today are scrolling the news, or looking for a certain politician or leader, or turn of events or even prophetic websites like Countdown to the Kingdom that would offer a glimmer of hope to change the course of things. Yes, knowing of a coming Era of Peace or “triumph of the Immaculate Heart”, or knowing that God “wins in the end” as the cliché goes, can be a hopeful message. But it can quickly be drowned out with the next glum headline or personal misfortune and suffering in our own lives. Suddenly, we can find ourselves looking again for another “out,” for another word of consolation, another word of hope… Continue reading