Our oldest member at St. Paul's turns a thousand years old today. Actually she is only 103, but she does seem ancient. I went to see her in the nursing home not long ago and she was sitting in her chair, watching TV. She had a biography close at hand and her bible was open. She had been looking for the passage in the gospel of John where Simon carries Jesus' cross. She had been talking about this with a younger family member, although she didn't explain why.
She also told me that while crops were lousy in Canada this year, the rice harvest in China was excellent, so we could look forward to rice pudding!
Muriel does tend to wander from town to town as she speaks, and from era to era, but she is still a remarkable old woman. She always tells me how grateful she is for her long life and that she really can't complain about anything, Think about it: she lived through two global wars, a flu pandemic, the death of her beloved husband and a son. But life has been good.
When I tell her how wonderful she is she'll have none of it. She offered that she was the product of a loving Christian home which others may not have enjoyed. I find I get quite emotional spending time with her, she is so inspirational.
I read to her from her open bible. She hadn't chosen that particular page but Isaiah 40 was so appropriate:
The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it...
but those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
2 comments:
As the summer draws to a close and preparations for a "new year" begin, this passage is encouraging. I fear I was feeling weary at even the thought of everything getting back up to full speed again but if the "breath of the Lord" is in the work of our days we shall not be weary. Muriel does sound remarkable...103 years,still engaged in life and no complaints...she is wonderfully inspiring, whether she wants to be or not!!
There is a wonderful woman at the home here in Stoughton who is also over 100 (I don't remember the exact number. Whenever I ask Alice how she is doing, she says, "Oh, can't complain." Maybe by the time you reach 100, you realize complaining just takes up precious time.
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