Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
 See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting. – Psalm 139

The deeper I venture into my 60’s, the more evidence there seems to be that sixty-four years of life have made some dents in the general functionality of this six-foot, 166 pound conglomeration of flesh, bone, brain, and soul.

Case in point my sunglasses. They are (expensive) clip-ons that fit with my prescription lenses. I’ve had these frames over seven years now and I’ve probably lost the shades – no exaggeration – a hundred times. But I always find them again. In an hour, a day, or sometimes longer but they show up eventually. The inside pocket of a coat; shirt breast pocket deep in the laundry; between the driver’s seat and the center console; at church; under a pile of rubble on my desk – the list is endless.

But this time they were gone gone. Somewhere in Mississippi. But wait, “customer service” knows no bounds and Thursday my shades showed up in the mail! Talk about above and beyond!

Other than a cool story, I’m sharing this to illustrate my awareness that, maybe, my brain can get a little scattered sometimes. It’s quite possible that – like the fact that my eyes need help to stay in focus, and my back can’t really help move a piano anymore, and I absolutely cannot execute the moves I once used with a soccer ball – my brain is likely headed in the same direction.

The one part of me that isn’t decaying!

But that is okay. The older I get the less my body will do and – eventually – I will be operating with less and less speed and facility in the data-processing end of the equation too (not so much for a couple more decades, but it is inevitable).

But here is what is cool: We are comprised – essentially – of body, mind, and spirit; but one of the three is still moving in the right direction, and it always can. My strength and clarity as a spiritual being is more acute and astute today than ever before, and there is no reason I cannot continue to grow!

And this is especially reassuring because, eventually, I am not going to need my physical strength, and I’m not going to need my intellect. But the one thing I will need going forward – eternally – is my soul. And at this time of my life, moving through this particularly challenging decade, I sense that my spiritual sensibility is just beginning to come into its own.

We are, the Bible teaches, beings of light, born of God’s love, created with incredible imagination and wonder!

For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well. – Psalm 139

What I am suggesting this morning is that we put some effort into our spiritual selves commensurate with the importance that element of our creation warrants. I take care of my body, I cultivate my mind… so why not put in some thought, and training, and investment when it comes to the soul?

I certainly plan on cultivating and using my soul, and increasing its potency – that’s one of the great things about being part of an active faith community like WFPC. Today, this year, the rest of my life – and for eternity.

In love, and because love is God’s invitation – DEREK