Greetings!

First of all, let me apologize for my no-show last week! It was an inadvertent slip, the result of physical and mental fatigue with a ‘tupps’ of laziness, thrown in for good measure. Seriously though, I was tired, and what with the anniversary of my birth on the horizon [June 1], the all too familiar ‘mi caahn badda’ syndrome held sway. But I am here today, giving thanks for all of you who read my weekly musings; for your written and vocalized encouragement, the fact that you find something…even a word in what I share, worth chewing on.

So, like I said above, last week I celebrated the anniversary of my birth. Friends who are older than I am, tell me that being still [sixty-one years] young, I have many more years to go. The truth is…I don’t know! In fact, none of us knows when our ‘number will be called’,  as old time Jamaicans would say; that is why, embracing every moment with thankfulness and joy…living as best and as fully as one can, without extravagance, is a life imperative, to be internalized, regardless of where one is located, on the chronological scale.

As I scanned [i.e. read every word of] the scores of texts, and answered just as many calls, with the finesse of a seasoned telephone operator from a bygone era, I realized, not for the first time but in a new and renewing way, how blessed I am. God continues to provide for me in ways I could not imagine let alone articulate. I have a comfortable home though not my own house; I am able to move around with relative ease, increasingly arthritic knees and ankles notwithstanding. There is never a day that I have to do without food [although with my expanding girth I should] and were that not enough, there’s a settledness within…a euphoric feeling beyond description, that tells me I have all that I need and also…that I am enough!

Years ago, having left high school with the minimum passes in the GCE O’ Level examinations, I felt less than my peers, those who made it to the sixth form, while I had to settle with participating in the National Youth Service. Looking back, I am today grateful, that – and here it comes – in all things God works for good… [Romans 8:28]. I had no idea back then, having committed my life to the saving grace and lordship of Jesus Christ, just how such commitment would have evolved…how it would have shaped the woman I have become. Along the road, I have acquired Friends…people I joyfully and gratefully refer to as family and then…I have grown to appreciate the gift and blessing of simplicity – whilst still giving in to the occasional splurge. I am a work in progress, and thanks be to God, Jesus is the one sitting at the potter’s wheel!

Today then, meaning not only this day but the current life season, I am more conscious of the fact [especially as two friends – one terminally – lay ill in hospital] that [my] blessings ought never to be taken for granted. I am embracing a truth I would recommend to others, that although forward planning is important, in preventing being caught in a web of unpreparedness, I have come to appreciate the fact that complex plans…projections we would give our ‘eye teeth’ to see come to pass within a specified time, seldom accrue anything of eternal value. They tend to usurp Immanuel’s place in our lives and as a consequence, contribute mainly to the erecting of an altar to self, in the world.

I am not in a rush to get to the great beyond. In all honesty, I do pray for more good years on this side of eternity. There are yet unfulfilled dreams that I would love to see emerge from the realm of undefined imagination, to step out boldly into the dawn of reality and yet…

The blessings of the past week, filling me with pure joy, served as a reminder of life’s important gifts and graces…the majority of which are not tangible. I am learning more and more, how to cherish loved ones…how to take things in my stride – to laugh at myself as I acknowledge the fact that I am, only because God is!

So yes, I will believe the truth about myself, no matter how beautiful it is.* I will do so however, knowing that like a sweet smelling savor, that self arises from an admixture of life’s joys and pains. It will emerge from the firing that eliminates dross, enabling me, with the passing years, to grow in favor with Him, who fashions me, according to the vision etched upon his sacred heart. A vision which He is bringing to reality, as he molds and shapes me, for His ultimate glory.

So until next week, when I touch bases again; stay safe and well, as you remain in His grip.

Grace+

*Macrina Wiederkehr