The Truth Process, Session VII, Post 9

TIME

EIGHT HUNDRED AND FORTY YEARS of collective life experience.

There were fourteen of us gathered in the room at an Italian restaurant in the South Hills of Pittsburgh, all of us members of the Baldwin High School class of 1968 – all of us having crossed the threshold of 60.  Fourteen people with six decades of living behind us – eight hundred and forty years of collective life experience.

I can only imagine what would happen if we had the time, and the necessary courage to share collectively what life has taught us. I don’t mean the small and sometimes obvious lessons that we learn along the way – such as “it’s not a good idea to put an M80 firecracker in a toad’s mouth.”  (Yes, one of our classmates actually did that. The culprit shall remain nameless.¹) I mean the larger more important lessons about living – the lessons that address how, when, and perhaps most importantly – why.

Due to the gap in my relationship with these people – in most cases close to forty years – I am not aware of much of what has happened in their lives between the ages of 18 and 60. Each time we get together I pick up a little more information about some of them.

As one would expect of a group of people of similar age, there are certain commonalities. There are several with grandchildren, and it seems that the grandparents all speak in the same loving and adoring tones about these little ones that they “spoil, then give back.” A few speak of adult children who continue to worry and frustrate them because of the poor choices those children, or others in their child’s lives, have made, Of course there are the ubiquitous comments about failing memory, aging bodies, and gray hair. Life being what it is, I am certain that although unspoken, there are other commonalities in the experiences of physical, relational, and emotional pain in the challenges that life in a fallen world inevitably brings. Jesus did say that “in this world, you will have trouble.”

One of our classmates turned 60 about a week before our gathering, and one member of our group, whom she has known since age four, thoughtfully turned the event into a birthday celebration for her. (Interestingly, this thoughtful classmate is the same one who blew up the frog.) The “birthday girl” is a determined, intelligent, capable woman, and she celebrated her 60^th birthday while dealing with one of the most challenging examples of the kind of trouble this world can bring – that trouble is named “breast cancer”.

The average life expectancy of a 60 year old man is less than 20 years. For a woman it is a little over 23 years. The reality and the implications of these facts sober me, for I know how fast the last 20 years of my life have passed by. I also am acutely aware of how time seems to move faster as I age. The Bible speaks of our lives as “a mist that appears for a little while, and then vanishes”.(James 4:14) Psalm 90 advises us to “number our days aright” – and I am reminded that we tend to number or count the things we value. (Psalm 90:12) Ephesians 5 offers great insight, instructing us to “be careful how you walk (carrying double meaning for ‘seasoned citizens’) making the most of your time.” (Ephesians 5:14-17)

This perspective requires that we be looking forward, rather than backward. The past is just that – the past. God has taught me that it’s Important to remember history – my own, as well as that of our nation, and most critically His Story, which stretches back into eternity.  My focus however, must be on the present. The statistics may tell me that my life expectancy is about 19 more years, but the statistics offer no guarantee. God’s word tells me that I am to be making the most of my time, wisely understanding what the will of the God is.

During the evening with my high school classmates, there came a moment when I knew that I was making the most of my time by being there at the Italian Oven in the South Hills of Pittsburgh. That moment came when a few of us gathered in a corner of the restaurant and prayed with the “birthday girl”. We lifted her before the Lord, and asked for her to be granted courage, peace, strength, and healing. Our prayer reminded her that God is sovereign and in control – of everything, which of course includes her life. We acknowledged that each of us is mortal, and dependent upon Him. I believe that her heart was encouraged by our time of prayer, and I know that I was making the most of my time on that Monday evening in November, 2010.²

In Christ –

John

¹She was guilt-ridden for years over this, confessing it twice to two different priests. I think that “coming clean” in front of the group made her feel better.

I continue to pray for my classmate, and I ask that each of you who reads this do so as well.