Some things never grow old. Like singing a favorite song while driving with the windows down; watching spring’s first flowers bloom; or taking a bite of any sweet dessert. As John Keat’s once wrote: “A thing of beauty is a joy forever.”
If we believe we were beautifully and wonderfully made, why, then, as we grow older on the outside, do we let time steal our joy? As if age were something to extinguish joy — as if wrinkles and sagging skin were something to hide away?
Last week, I grabbed lunch with my gramma, who had received a hair cut earlier that day. Her hair looked fantastic, but it’s not what I love most about her. You see, my gramma is beautiful for many reasons; what captivates me most is her spirit, the way she lights up when she smiles, and the stories we share. Her spirit is full of so much joy, and for that she is eternally beautiful.
The same is true for all of us, regardless of age, appearance, or social class.
An uplifting, remarkable spirit is a joy to be surrounded by forever.
It’s guaranteed that our bodies will change over time, but our spirits will only grow old if we let them.
We’ve heard it said that age is just a number, and though I am only 20 years old, I could not agree more. Age isn’t something we should run from, but rather something we should embrace. The longer we are alive and the more refined our spirits become, the more joy we have the opportunity to spread around.
Like singing a favorite song while driving, we should consider ourselves timeless — a thing of joy forever. We are not entirely bound by time, we are simply forced to live within it.
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” -2 corinthians 4:16 (NIV)
[…] few years back I wrote about what it means to be a joy forever, and the post was about Marlene. The words from the blog post still ring true today: “my […]