Aging well, like fine wine, happens slowly and with deliberate intent. Most people just grow old. Not me. I want to grow older with a sweet, mellow aroma.
In her book, The Gift of Years, Joan Chittister tells the story of Margaret. Still a master seamstress at ninety-five, Margaret reads, listens to music, seeks out friends, and listens to lectures. “She lives. There is something about her that sanctifies time, makes it creative rather than stale. She gives me insight into the part of my own life that I cannot yet see. She tells me that life is not measured by years.”
Life is measured by what we are becoming. Since I am an eternal person, I have a lot to become. I appreciate George MacDonald’s comment, “Age is not all decay. It is the ripening, the swelling, of the fresh life within that withers and bursts the husk.”
This body may be withering and a time will come to burst the husk, but when that moment arrives it will be because the person inside grew too big to live in anything other than a new body designed to hold a growing, vibrant spirit named Susan.
Today is my birthday and I plan to age like fine wine.
In Him together, Susan Gaddis
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