God has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart… (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

This morning I walked Scout, eased Rebekah from slumber with a mug of fresh-brewed coffee, then sat down to read the morning paper.

In sitting, some kind of a noise must have escaped me, because Rebekah immediately looked my way and said: “Are you all right?”

“Fine,” I replied; “Just a little creaky.”

And then, after thinking about it for a moment, I followed up with: “You know, I really did have a hard time getting moving this morning. In fact I don’t think I’ve ever felt this old in my entire life.”

Rebekah put her section of the paper down and looked at me, appraisingly: “That’s because you’ve never been this old before. This is not only the oldest you’ve ever been, it’s also the youngest you’re ever going to be from this point on.”

AGE may be well be “just a number.” I completely understand this because I know people in their 40’s who seem to be a lot older than me, and I also know folk in their 70’s and 80’s who live with kind of purpose and vigor many people never knew even in their youth. However, the fact remains that I felt legitimately “creaky” earlier today, and I had to give some of my parts a pep-talk to avoid cutting Scout’s walk short and heading back to bed.

NOT WHO I AM ANY MORE: The good news is that it’s Okay. I have discovered (am discovering) that I’m not defined by my physical self anymore. In fact, I think I’ve moved far enough along “the road less travelled by” that my identity as a person is now more spiritual than it is physical. And, by the creaking noises coming from my body this morning it looks like I’ve arrived there just in time!

I certainly plan to do my best to stay in good shape, physically. I want to be a good steward of my body. I really enjoy things like walking, playing games, exploring etc. But nurturing and growing my spiritual life is an investment that transcends any limitation that might come packaged with the inevitable passage of time.

VIBRANCY: Fact is, I feel more vibrant and alive today than I have at any other time in my life. I believe this is because the spiritual component, our relationship with The Living God, is so much more than “optional” or “add-on” or “take-it-or-leave-it.”

We were created for the purpose of a moment-by-moment walk with God. In many respects, faith is more important than breathing.

In other words, when we grow spiritually we are finally connecting with the most critical aspect of what it means to be human.

Therefore, irrespective of the “creakiness” of my physical body, I am only truly alive to the extent that I embrace my identity as a blessed child of God. The body – eventually – decays and dies. The spiritual life is eternal.

“God has made everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes). And that is a beautiful truth – DEREK