EIGHT DECADES ON LIFE’S HIGHWAY

The span of our life is seventy years,
Perhaps in strength even eighty;
yet the sum of them is but labor and sorrow,
for they pass away quickly and we are gone.

Psalm 90:10

On October 31, 2024, I celebrate my 80th birthday. This year will be somewhat unique in that I will be recovering from hip replacement surgery which I had on the 29th.

I believe I’ve mentioned before in this annual post, that I never thought I would live this long. That is why I am thankful to God for having granted me all these years on earth. I’ve had a chance to experience much, as well as witness much, not to mention that I have outlived many of my dear friends and acquaintances.

But in recent years, my body has begun to betray me. In 2019, as I approached my 75th birthday, I had my gall bladder removed. And this year, of course, the aforementioned hip replacement.

I find myself taking more medication than I ever imagined. There’s a pill for my thyroid, for blood pressure, for prostate, an anti-inflammatory, and several others which don’t come to mind immediately. The clerks at the the local pharmacy and I are on a first-name basis.

Yet here I am, at the cusp of completing of my eighth decade on earth.

And even though I know that the end is closer than the beginning, I do not fear death, and speak of it openly and without apprehension.

Psalm 90, a verse of which is quoted above, Is the obligatory psalm I read each birthday. Over the many years that I have engaged in daily prayer, I have utilized two books, For All the Saints, published by the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau; and most recently, The Book of Common Prayer, the prayer book of the Episcopal Church. has become my favorite. Other versions of the Bible perhaps articulate this psalm more clearly, but I always find myself returning to the more familiar.

I always want to say something profound about this psalm, but no matter what else I may want to say, I keep coming back to verse ten. Our span of life is nothing compared to the timelessness of God.

Yet I find myself grateful. Grateful that I have lived this long. Grateful that God has allowed me to see all that I have seen. Grateful that I have, despite tragedies and setbacks, enjoyed a joyful, fruitful life with a variety of vocations and careers.

I have been blessed with family, friends, and most importantly, I have been given the opportunity to serve God and apply my heart to wisdom.

Can I ask for anything more?

O God, our times are in your hand: Look with favor, we pray, on your servant as I begin another year. Grant that I may grow in wisdom and grace, and strengthen my trust in your goodness all the days of my life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(From the Book of Common Prayer, page 830)