Thursday, July 10
Even those who live many years should rejoice in them all…
—Ecclesiastes 11:8a
Beyond mere cosmetic changes, increased health risks and associated health problems can sap our strength and will to live. There are moments when we think we’ve had enough of life. We think we’ve experienced enough years. We are certain there is no longer any meaning or purpose for our continued existence.
Just as every day is a miraculous gift from heaven, so the accumulation of those days into years is a gift. To rejoice in every one of them may seem difficult at times, but the very possibility of opening our eyes to the grandeur of the sun’s rising, or to feel the soft rain in spring, or touch the hand of a loved one, or think a new thought, or sit quietly in the warmth of sun, or share the wisdom we have gained from our years, or stretch our weary body out under fresh cotton sheets reminds us that the joy of life is not in the absence of physical limitations, but in the living of the life itself.
If we will simply live, as Jesus said, one day at a time, we will find that the single days that become years have circled around us with the color of rainbow rings.
O God, when complaints creep from my soul, show me yet one more miracle and let me be renewed in joy.
The Signposts for July are written by Renée Miller and originally appeared on explorefaith.org in 2004.
