Circling Up!
Circling Up!
Are you circling up or down? We just enjoyed dinner with two other actively aging and faith-filled couples. We’ve known both for decades, so it was a fun reunion as we sat at a round table feasting from sizzling platters of Chinese food. One of the couples now lives in a high-end retirement home and shared a sobering comment a fellow resident recently made. As they were processing the loss of several friends and fellow residents, a stubbornly secular neighbor remarked, “We’re all just circling the drain.”
The thought of death is sobering, especially our own. Our son turns fifty this week, and most everyone his age or older assumes they have fewer years ahead of them than behind them. As one of my buddies just said, “There’s more sand in the bottom of my hourglass than on the top!” Don’t misunderstand, he’s not complaining. He is a wise man and would never wish to be younger.
Not everyone feels like they’re circling down, others are just the opposite. Earlier that same day I had the opportunity of enjoying an extensive conversation with my friend and mentor, Bob Shank, Founder of The Master’s Program for business leaders. A few years ago, Bob was clobbered by a rare cancer that nearly took his life. His odds for survival were lousy to say the least. Thanks to the good efforts of his medical team and to the grace of God, he is now surprisingly robust, with a good chance of enjoying a few or more good years.
When we talked, Bob was as inspiring as always. He told me that in the middle of his rigorous treatments he told his Muslim doctor, “I’ll either be home for Christmas or in heaven; either way it will be good.” Here’s some of the email he shared with his friends prior to the City of Hope fund raiser:
“Tonight, I’ll have seven minutes to tell my story regarding the City of Hope. Two years ago this month, I was doing my best to pray following my diagnosis with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. In the months that followed, the battle against that deadly disease was waged at the City of Hope in Duarte, California.
As of Tuesday, last week, Dr. Ali – who led the team that provided my care – confirmed again that I am in-remission: there is currently no evidence of leukemia in their continuing tests on me.
I told Dr. Ali two years ago what to expect: if I was alive for Christmas ’22 (at that time, medical odds were less than 10%), he and his team would get the credit, but God would get the glory.”
Bob is always looking up, and the same should be true for all who are setting their sights on things above. In light of eternity, we’re all only on planet earth for blink of time, and time is marching on for us all. However, while growing older may be inevitable, growing wiser is always optional.
The book of Proverbs is packed with wisdom, each one of the 31 chapters packs a daily dose of wisdom sayings. As we read in Proverbs 4:7 (NLT), “Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do!” I crave wisdom so much that I never begin my day without seeking it through reading and reflecting on God’s word. I don’t know how many days I have left. Do you?
The very next day, the first day of the month, I happened to meet a young wisdom seeker. As we talked, she said that she had recently desired to start reading the Bible. She happened to be the receptionist in a doctor’s office with a Bible nearby. I asked her to open it and find the book of Proverbs and read chapter one. She was instantly mesmerized and said, “Wow, this is really good.” Then she shocked me, “I’ve never read the Bible in my entire life!”
I suggested that she begin everyday with the chapter of Proverbs corresponding to the day’s date. Then I marked the Psalms and the Gospel of John as well. I can hardly wait to return to the doctor’s office again to check on the progress of this young wisdom seeker.
We all need wisdom, and it’s available to us all no matter our age or life situation. Any day could be our last day, and if not, we could be confronted with a world rocking diagnosis or difficulty requiring immense wisdom. We all face a choice to look at life as if we’re just circling the drain, or to start looking up.
This I know, since I’m still alive to write these words, and since you’re alive to read them, God is not finished with either of us yet! All in Christ are eternally blessed both for now and forever. “e set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.” (Hebrews 2:15 NLT). “But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more.” (Psalm 71:14 NIV).
I’m always circling up, believing that by God’s grace the best is yet to be!
Alan
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