In 1948 in the Black Hills of South Dakota a mountain carving of the Lakota chief, Crazy Horse was begun. Seventy-seven years later it is still in process. The chief’s head is the only part that is finished, and there is a very long way to go.
I recently realized that I have spent way too much time entertaining myself with movies and TV series that depicts the over 60 charecter as the “completed one.” The senior is the all knowing sage, the one who has learned all the hard lessons of life and can float through sticky situations like a leaf on a fall day. All the rough edges have been smoothed out as wrinkles are quickly appearing. In these fairy tale forms of entertainment, the younger actor will be in quite the muddle. Amazingly the cotton top comes up with the right solution to the youngsters insolvable problem. This solution is not one that the “whipper snapper” would find in his own emotional tool box. It takes the arthritis sufferers using a bright beam of light taken from their own experiences to lead the young ones out of the dark woods of confusion.
What does it mean to be finished, complete, and done?
My sister, mother and I just wrapped up our twenty-second annual summer trip. Spending a week with two other women, family or not, has the potential to bring to light the hidden dark corners of our lives as a spotlight would on a fleeing criminal. There is nowhere to hide or run when you are in the same living quarters, hundreds of miles from the soft spot of our own homes.
During this week together, a revelation of my own selfishness was revealed. Fortunate for you, dear readers, I will let the hibernating bear of my latest foible remain asleep. Once again, the Lord has reminded me that it is only He who can finish what he has started in me. The runway of seventy years is in my site, but the wheels of wisdom and grace are still fully retracted!
Shouldn’t wisdom come freely and easily as our hair transforms from golden brown to gray? Why doesn’t it just show up like laugh lines around our mouth or love handles around our waist? Surely, decades of living on this planet would magically clear the way, and create a trail in this forest of life leading to grace, wisdom and completion in all circumstances.
I do love my fantasy world and so wish it delivered on all of its promises. But our gracious and patient Lord has once again reminded me of His truth. Gray hair, rounded shoulders and crunching knees are not the magnet for the metal of wisdom. Failing eyesight and social security checks don’t instantly make us “completed”. It is in Him only, while experiencing His word and presence.
Don’t be wise in your own eyes, fear God and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. Proverbs 3:7-8
The world has always proclaimed “follow your heart.” However, scripture corrects such empty platitudes:
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9
The world teaches us to “Go with your gut.”
Our Designer warns us:
“There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.” Proverbs 14:12
The writer of the Psalms was inspired by God when he wrote:
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Those of us who are Christ followers have been offered an invaluable treasure. Not a treasure that requires leaving our homes or putting our lives at risk like those in the 1800s who went looking for gold. We can seek a treasure of truth of wisdom, rather than hoping for wisdom gained by decades of living on this planet. As our bodies age, eyesight fails and waist sizes enlarge, the wisdom and truth of our Father will never change. Our kaleidoscopic culture, current trends and latest discoveries will never bring about the wisdom and truth of God’s word.
So rather than waiting for more candles on my birthday cake to bring about wisdom and complete who I am to be, I will savor the sweet wisdom of my maker, and lap up the refreshing truth of God’s word. I will keep my failing eyes open to the promise that God is not done with me yet.
“He who began a good in me WILL carry it to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6
Sholom dear readers,
Karen