I was going to write something wise about aging but I don't feel very wise about aging. Getting older is all around us. I spent some time last week in an assisted living center visiting my mom. Its a reversal of life kids taking care of their parents like they took care of us. My mom's life has shrunk to a very small size. Her room is small and shared with another person. She has half a small room, one small bed, one small chair, one small dresser and few pictures. Maybe a book or two but no tv or newspapers or radio. Her entertainment is bingo and going to meals. She seems fine with that. She remembers things from long ago better than what happened yesterday. She looks at us carefully and smiles glad we are there but if we are not there, then what, I wonder. Does she remember us? Our histories which were contentious at times are forgotten. If I hurt her and I did, she does not remember. It helps me heal, too. We are together as two created persons. Who have the same Creator. Karl Barth wrote that "all human life is surrounded by a certain solemnity. Life is only human, and created, and eternity as the divinely decreed destiny of human beings is only an allotted future. But within these limits it is a mystery emphasized and absolutely distinguished by God himself. As such it must always be honored with new wonder. Every single point to be observed and pondered is in its own way equally marvelous - and everything is equally marvelous in every human existence." Children of God sharing a moment of eternity. Is what we are.
