TO GO UPHILL IS AN ORDEAL

PRAYER PAUSE

Saturday 24 September 2016

TO GO UPHILL IS AN ORDEAL

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “When the sound of the mill is faint, when the voice of the bird is silenced, and song notes are stilled, when to go uphill is an ordeal and a walk is something to dread.” (Ecclesiastes 11;9-12:8)

Reflection. The preacher’s evocation of old age is poignant. He celebrates the joy of youth and then turns to the sufferings life brings, culminating in the diminishment of old age. It is beautiful poetry but there is a note of sadness about it. A person ends up as dust and all is vanity. That is the starkness of life and, as Christians, we cannot just say: “But…” But we have faith and we know that all is not vanity. There is a purpose and a blessed goal. That is true. Yet we cannot be satisfied with words. We have to allow life’s energy – and diminution to flow through us. We have to discover the truth of our belief and not just parade it like a slogan.  

Prayer. Lord, help those of us who are aging to grow gracefully into our diminishment. Amen