Last week-end I spent with my daughter in Virginia, Abingdon to be exact. We were there to say good-bye to a life well spent. Being with family and renewing our connections with cousins was an uplifting and affirming experience.
Learning things we had not known before about a family member is thought provoking. My thoughts are now reflecting on the life of one who did not waste his potential. Young people do not understand this, usually. They are busy learning the various approaches to living their life, being educated, developing talents, sharing time with others of like mind. The reflection on how a life has already been lived comes much later after years of observation.
How sad it is to see a life full of potential thrown away on frivolous pursuits. How does this happen? Probably the reasons are legion. It occurs to me that a life needs nurturing just as a garden needs nurturing. That may be why those of us who had a heavy dose of parental guidance and supervision feel more satisfied with our situations and are free to enjoy our later years in contentment.
I have learned that neglect in the garden rarely causes a good crop to appear. Some seeds may still come forth and produce beyond expectations. While others not expected to be spectacular , truly are. That could be compared to people and how they develop and thrive in a competitive world of wild weeds. As God has planned for good in all mankind how can it be that some do not live up to His expectations.
These thoughts come to me on a rainy day. When the sun is out it is easy to be cheerful and physically active, but when storm clouds gather whether in reality or in life's living it causes introspection, in me at least.
It must be a pleasure for God to see his seeds grow and develop and become what he had in mind. A life well lived, well balanced, which leaves behind inspiring memories is all which can be expected, don't you agree? I think God is well pleased with the life we gathered to honor last week, the life of my younger brother.
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