WHERE ARE THEY TAKING US?

I will be the first to admit that I’ve been feeling a bit “in the dumps” lately……with too much ‘alone,’ and not enough ‘together.’ Chances are you know how that feels, especially if seventy or eighty describes you.

Along the way we late-lifers have learned a thing or two about dealing with those pesky ‘down days.’ During the last few weeks I have found myself visiting a too-often neglected prayer space, seeking what I am assured is the healing promise of the Holy Spirit. Beyond that I have made a conscience effort to renew neglected relationships……old friends who deserve more attention than I have offered in times past.

Though I have yet to find a magical cure for those reoccurring blues, it feels like I am on the right track. At the heart of the matter, there is no quick fix for the sad reality of ‘Roma’s exit’ after sixty-seven years of having her nudging me in the right direction. Again, I’m sure that some of you who know how that feels.

Still, in those dark moments I am left with……”Woe is me!” There are times when I wonder how can I carry on in such a deflated, unfair world? That’s where I was the other day in the midst of a particularly low point. How could things possibly get worse? It must have been about then that aforementioned Holy Spirit gave me a forceful kick in the butt…… planting seeds that are just beginning to hatch.

I don’t watch the news as much as I used to. Fact is, I don’t like the way our world is spinning. Still, I see enough to have some idea of what “Woe is me” really looks like.

I have seen photos of so-called ‘terrorists’ in a stark El Salvadorian prison, Human beings stacked like cordwood, in the name of purifying our population. I have seen newsreels of Gaza hospitals turned into rubble, with wide-eyed children trying to understand what is happening to their world. I have read of life-giving food supplies being locked away from hungry people in the name of ‘fiscal efficiency.”

It seems to be all-around us……a “Woe is me” world of fellow humans suffering in ways we can scarcely imagine for reason few of us can justify.

Then……somewhere along the way……a single word popped into my thoughts……a seemingly valid way of describing much of the dysfunction we are observing. Beyond our individual, sometimes upsetting emptiness there is a more sinister evil at work……a spreading menace to the Divine promise of this Easter season.

Sad to say our world is too-often held hostage by the dark forces of “inhumanity.” That’s a word you have heard before, haven’t you?

Inhumanity - “without compassion for misery or suffering.”

From my aging vantage point it seems we are awash in a world “without compassion”……so in need of the true spirit of this Easter season.

I am not sure what we can do about it, but I know an occasion for prayer when I see it. And this is not the time for a ‘Prayer vacation.’ 

IF GOD IS LOVE, THEN LOVE MUST BE GODLY

They say that God is Love. I have heard that since childhood……and you probably have too. Though it took a while, actually quite a while, in time I came to realize that was true.

In those three short words……just ten letters……is spelled out one of the foundations of our spiritual reality, a touchstone of man’s search for the meaning of his existence.

Still, for some of us equating God and Love in a single sentence may have the the vague feel of philosophical haziness……an ethereal, seemingly imprecise notion, hard to pin down.

Yet, over the years most of us have learned there is nothing more real than the reality of Love’s place in our life, and its role in creating the person we hope to be. I’m guessing that most of us will admit that the life moments we best remember are likely to include that special ingredient in one or more of its many forms.

As an aging soul, when I find myself adrift in a lonely, isolated world I am apt to be longing for the Love that seems to have left my life. (Though in my more lucid moments I realize that loss is an illusion.)

And the antidote for that stifling aloneness? It is Love……beginning with a spiritual connection to the nebulous reality I was raised to call the Holy Spirit……and reinforced by the caring company of the fellow travelers I meet on my path through late-life.

But, of course, Love at our age is something more than a mental mind game……and certainly different than a return to the romantic Love of our earlier days. Seems to me that the Love we October/November folks are looking for works best in the form of caring connections, human interactions……especially those with other late-lifers who are apt to share a tinge of our perceived emptiness.

Those possibilities may include a sometimes overlooked reality……that is, many of the folks we pass on our life path are in need of the personal attention we can offer them……brief as it might be……in the same way their paying attention to us can be a welcome balm in our life. 

When all is said and done what we need in our life is to have the Holy Spirit (whatever that means to us) being made into something more than a mental image, a comforting thought constraint. I need it to become an experienced reality……one I can rely on every day

So……if God is Love……then Love is Godly. Right? And as such it is a powerful blessing for us to be spreading around in today’s often fearful, unloving world.

Bottom line for us as individuals…….spread the word……spread the caring and kindness……spread the Love.

Gil Stewart