Stuff We're Supposed to in this Life

By Rev. Jim Purcell

Young people have their own ideas. The very nature of young people, very many of them, is that they try the waters and take risks, fall in love, work hard and dream. I wouldn't want to go through that again for all the tea in China. I learned a lot in my life, through getting kicked and falling through many of the branches of the more challenging scenarios in life. And, I am as tired as a tired as a one-legged man in a butt kicking contest.

In youth, whether or not we owned up to it, many of us believed in our invincibility. Yes, youth will do that -- it is a condition that has stood the test of time since the innovation of mankind first debuted on the earth. Life can look as long and straight as I-95 between North Carolina and Georgia. But life, that great teacher, has, in the immortal words of the character Jed Clampat from 'The Beverly Hillbillies,' "...got something fur ya." Yes, it does.

In some ways, people are not unique at all because there are commonalities we all share, and in others there is variety. Case in point: If anyone's leg gets broken, then the way to fix it is pretty much the same anywhere you go. It is another case where it involves sociology, psychology and culture. The basic organism of mankind -- men and women -- does not change all that much. But, the dumbass things we can think of is legion; and I mean that from an individual level all the way through entire nations. Oh, there is so much energy applied to being unique and different in this world.

After half of a century in this better than all other worlds, some things have changed with my way of thinking: I no longer want to live to be 120 years old, I do not want to find any job let alone the job of my 'dreams,' family will never be everything I wanted it to be, love may or may not be forever, dogs are proven to be the best emotional investment of all because they are a hundred times more faithful than men or women and there is real joy in quiet contemplation. These are some of the big things that changed my thinking.

Oh, yes, revenge: I had to give that up. It took so much energy being angry at those who did this, stole that, hung me up to dry here and betrayed me outright I was getting too tired to go to lunch most days. Older people have to -- have to -- figure out what is important when it comes to using one's energy. And, since there are things like one's health, love, friends, housing, hobbies, finances and moderate exercise to deal with, there isn't really a lot left over. It doesn't matter if someone wants to hold onto whatever negativity they have. Of course, there are going to be those who are not fully grown-up yet, and there are plenty, who go into their Golden Years nursing these immense, negative issues (I know a few of them from my days putting out a newspaper in Middletown, New Jersey). And, all of those fellows have a lot of money.

It reminds me of the that Biblical quote from Christ saying it is easier for a camel to travel through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to gain the Kingdom of Heaven (of course I am paraphrasing). Even if one does not have faith of any kind, I presume that having peace in one's reclining years is better than not having peace in one's reclining years. It is, after all, our collective Fourth Act, so to speak, after a certain point in our lives. Nevertheless, these years can be wonderful, amazing! Men and women can not only rediscover who they were and are during the years after working, but they can also 'become' in retirement. They can become what they have always wanted, or even dreamt; a pilot, a dancer, get that Master's you have been talking about forever and ever, become a volunteer teaching kids, or helpo out at the hospital. The sky is the limit. It is a new time, shining with the sun. Of course, you could always hang around the disappointments and frustrations of your old life and become a crusty old thing, so miserable no one wants to be around you -- not even pets.

I choose to try and make some use of the time the good Lord has given me before my eventual dirt nap. Oh, the notion of life eventually being over doesn't scare me. Today, I have a closer relationship with the Lord than ever before in my entire life. I started doing some work on that most important relationship between myself and my creator. It's my belief this is as it is supposed to be. Going to Glory one day is not a punishment or something to dread. Not having found peace and serenity, even a little wisdom, in this world would be the terrible thing. Our time is made precious because there is only so much of it in this world.

My suggestion: Be kind, have some fun and be sure to let yourself fall in love if that comes up. As always, thanks for coming here and reading my incessant ranting, as usual. Be sure to stop by in a few days, I am starting to feel a little better and think I will be perfectly recovered by then.

God bless and seeya later!