This morning I pray with gratitude for the students who have travelled
with Katie and me to New York City. It has been a long journey and now we begin our work.
Lord, help us see your face in the eyes of the elderly today. May we come to value our elders and see their lives not as disposable or “used up” but rather, as imbued with your grandeur. All life is sacred and while it is hard for us to see those at the end of life deteriorating, it is helpful to remind ourselves that you Lord, were among the elderly of your time. We don’t often remember that.
I recall my own parents, now elderly themselves in their 80s, with gratitude for always listening and trusting that I would develop into the person that they hoped I could become. I am lucky to have them for this long as they did not have their own parents very long. While I learned how to be an adult and a husband from them, they learned to be parents by trial and error. And they did so with great love for my sister and me and for you, Lord.
Today be with our students, that they might celebrate old age in their youth, so that when they get old, they might be able to celebrate all that they are and all that they have been.