A Seventeenth-Century Prayer (#166 of 365+)

“Do not say, ‘Why were the old days better than these?’ For it is not wise to ask such questions. Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun. Wisdom is a
shelter” (Ecclesiastes 7:10-12)

Just the other evening, while watching the Academy Awards, my husband and I agreed that Jeff Bridges and his wife Susan have aged beautifully. Not because of plastic surgery (they had some deep laugh lines) but because they appear happy and very much in love. I read somewhere that they’ve been married over 30 years. In one interview Jeff Bridges said he’d never cheat on his wife. He said he knew it would ruin him as a person and he’d lose everything that was precious.

For today’s devotional, Joni shared a lengthy prayer written by an unknown person during the 17th century. It dealt mostly with the issue of aging gracefully. Or, should I say, aging “full of grace”. A couple of lines from the prayer captured my attention: “I do not want to be a sour old person… Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places, and talents in unexpected people. And give me, O Lord, the grace to tell them so.”

I don’t want to become a critical senior citizen like some of my relatives did when they got old. Like that 17th century believer, I too want to always believe the best about other people and any situation I may encounter. I want to be the sweet old lady with crinkly laugh lines who bakes cookies for the neighborhood children… who offers encouragement and welcome words of wisdom to my own children and grandchildren… who holds my loving husband’s hand every day for the rest of our lives.

Lord, thank you for your eternal grace. Through pain, through suffering—and through the aging process—continue to transform me into your image every day of my life. May you be glorified in little “old” me! Amen.