I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
II Timothy 4:7
I have a picture that shows an old man with a cane standing outside. His shadow is what he looked like as a marine when he was 20. The caption is Once a soldier, always a soldier.
That is partially true. The body goes first, then the mind, and the soul remains.
Playing basketball works that way. At 61 my body will not do many of the things it used to do. I’m working out to keep it going, but it just breaks down. Mentally, I can still play. I have to adjust what I do physically to make use of the knowledge and experience. I have to realize what my body is capable of doing today and work with that. Reaction time is way down. Anticipation is up and that makes me useful, sometimes, in playing half court basketball. Spiritually, I can remain tough. I gave up on a play after my body had a ‘senior moment’, and compounded my error when a teammate saved the ball only to have it bounce off me because I had momentarily stopped. Spiritually, I can rebuke, correct, and encourage myself to always press on.
It is what you do with what you have that really counts.
Leave a Reply