Good Medicine

In his retirement sermon, a pastor recalled many of the life-enriching events he experienced in his years of parish service. He especially remembered “A wonderful older woman with a remarkable gift for cheering up whoever came to visit her.” He said, “One day we talked about how we endure and overcome our times of ill-health and loneliness, and she wrote out for me a little poem she had found somewhere, one which became her roadmap for her later years. This is what she wrote” …

God, keep my heart attuned to laughter when youth is done, when all the days are gray days — days without the sun.

God keep my heart from bitterness when life seems cold.

Let my heart be filled with laughter in my days of growing old.

Then the pastor added, “That is a lovely prayer that can be answered. Even in their last days, our lives can have the stamp of joy upon them.”

In the last days…