Healing Rays of Righteousness

When educational philosopher John Dewey was 89 years old, a young medical doctor expressed his low opinion of philosophy.  “What’s the good of such claptrap?” he asked.  “Where does it lead you?”  Dewey answered by saying, “The good of it is that you climb mountains.”

The young man scoffed, “Climb mountains!  And what’s the use of doing that?”  The professor answered, “When you climb mountains, you see other mountains to climb.  You come down, climb the next mountain, and you see still others to climb.”  Then he added, “When you are no longer interested in climbing mountains to see other mountains to climb, life is over.”

Professor John Dewey had a point.  He was right in suggesting that it is the challenges ahead of us that give life meaning and energy, and if there are no challenges, or mountains, then we may still have a heart-beat, but we are not really living and aging as God intended for us.

It is very interesting and probably instructive to note that the pivotal moments in the life of biblical Moses took place on mountains?  First, there was Mount Horeb, the mountain of God’s call.  Then there was Mount Sinai, the mountain of God’s commandments.  And finally, there was Mount Nebo, which I like to call the mountain of God’s commencement for Moses.

From this final mountain Moses was privileged to see the results of his life’s work – the land God promised to his people.  From this mountain he also entered the heavenly Promised Land, graduating from this earthly life and entering into eternal heavenly life with God.  For Moses, there was always another mountain to climb, until he was called home to heaven from the final mountain.

If you are a senior adult, like me, I ask you, for what purpose are you living during these latter years of life?  Is your purpose just to hang on as long as you can, like the bumper sticker states: “I just want to live long enough to be a burden to my children.”  I suppose that can be a purpose for living, and it may indeed prolong your life, or probably more correctly, make it just seem that way to everybody around you.  Obviously, we should possess a purpose that is much bigger and more appreciated than just having a negative or cantankerous spirit about life.

So, what keeps you going?  What is your purpose on planet earth, in your community, church, and family?  Even more importantly, is that purpose given you by God?  I’m convinced that if we have a purpose that daily challenges us to keep climbing and discovering new things and new understandings, we can be young at age 80.  If we don’t, we are most likely old at age 40, in both spirit and body.

You are old when you feel that tomorrow holds no meaningful challenge, no mountain to climb.  You are old when you say, “I’m too old for that.”  You are old when you think that you have learned all that you are going to learn about life and God.  You are old when you talk to people younger than you but you don’t listen and learn from them.  You are old when you talk about purpose for living in the past tense but not in the future tense.

But, if you possess a God-given purpose that daily motivates you toward discovering new learning and understandings, you are “young” no matter how many candles are placed on your birthday cake.

If you keep focused on your spiritual legacy, find a purpose for living, and follow God’s guidance, then every day you will climb to a new mountain peak, from which you may see tomorrow’s mountain, and then the next day’s mountain, until you reach your final mountain and from there, while standing on its peak, you graduate to your heavenly home.  What a way to live, and what a way to die.  And so, keep climbing mountains, and God be with you.

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – May 15, 2019