Yesterday was my birthday. It was an extraordinarily special day, considering all the challenges I have dealt with since my last birthday. These last nine months have given me a new appreciation for life. A new awareness that each day is a precious gift not to be taken for granted.
Birthdays bring inevitable thoughts about getting older. I can remember when, once upon a time, I thought anyone who had passed their 60th birthday was really old. Having passed that milestone several years ago, I no longer think of it in quite the same way. Because the truth is, I really don't think of myself as old. I don't feel old. At least, not on most days. Other days, well, that's a different story...
I remember reading that Jonathan Edwards, that great American preacher of days gone by, had seventy resolutions for his life, all of which he wrote while in his early twenties, and which he read every week for the rest of his life. His Resolution 52 is one we would all do well to take to heart.
"I frequently hear persons in old age say how they would live, if they were to live their lives over again. Resolved, that I will live as I shall wish I had done, supposing I live to old age."
Having passed another birthday, Johnathan Edwards' resolution continues to be my resolution as well, for the coming year and for however many years lie ahead: to live as I shall wish I had done.
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