Reflections

We spend a lot of time planning for security in our later years. A comfortable retirement appeals to us. Even more, we don’t want to be dependent on our children or the government.

Living in a retirement community, I see around me the varied results of those plans. Some people are doing well, while others have had a sudden stroke, debilitating disease, or serious accident, and their secure base is melting away. Most of us are independent, but some must rely on assisted living. A few, some with dementia, live on for decades. There is little we can do about it.

The fact is, God is our only security. The Lord’s promises don’t fail us, even when they are not what we expect. Those of us in our eighties have lived through calamities and wars. We know the uncertainty of “best-laid-plans.” A prayer of Thomas Merton puts it this way: “You will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always…I will not fear, for…you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”

The ability to love as Jesus loved is beyond all of us. But I believe God will indeed lead us in the right way when we ask. And we can trust him. Always.