When I was young I knew with absolute certainty that I would never have gray hair. It just was not going to happen, no matter what life threw at me! Now that a multitude of decades have past and I have more gray hair than all other colors together I wonder what I was thinking.
Did I believe I would never grow old? I still do not see myself as “that” much older than I was during my university years. I watched myself during a video at a press conference and did not readily recognize the person on film; too old, formal, and business like. Yet it was I and I have grown old and older.
Did I believe I would always be young? Could I have thought that I would cling to my youthful looks and ways? Was everything going to remain as it carefree and careless as it was?
Those around me suggest that I was never carefree and careless; I always carried a serious side. Perhaps that is the key; I discovered in my heart what was really at risk in you life and mine. For that discovery and the journey that followed I now know the truth of the proverb.
“Gray hair is a mark of distinction, the award for a God-loyal life.” (Proverbs 16.31)
In the distance that you and I journey through life there is one common element that we share; our lives and souls are in the balance. We journey with everything at eternal risk, the outcome to follow based totally and completely on our choice of God or gods. In a sense the decision is never two-way; God has chosen us and paid a price that we will never understand in this life. The choice is ours.
It is almost too easy to postpone yet again the decision of walking in trust, taking each step through a living faith in God’s compassion, mercy, and love. Living totally for others, for God and what he/she stands for is the opportunity we have.
For me, God is life and living.
