Photo by Karen
I have three favorite coffee mugs, and I like for them to hang from the hooks rather than set on the shelf. I know where every club fits in my golf bag, and I want them there. I have a wonderful way of stacking the dishwasher—it is the best. We have a drawer for knives—brown handles on the left, black handles on the right. I have become a fan of purple ink. I squeegee our glass shower from right to left. You should not crush boxes to recycle—flatten them at the seams.
See what I mean? How did this happen to me? The obvious answer is senility—but I think it is more innocent than that. I believe that your later years are meant to lead to a deeper spirituality. One of the keys to freeing up your spirit is to simplify your life. I like my three mugs visible because they are the ones I want to use. I see the golf shot I want to hit and know the club that gives me the best chance to do that. Dishwashing is an ecological activity—I like mine neatly filled. Okay, the knives are a little OCD. Purple ink is royal—I write for the King. I’m right-handed. Flattened makes more room than crushed. Simplicity. A sense of order is a comforting awareness.
When does it cross the line? When do I become a difficult person to live with? When I insist. I have drunk my coffee in all the other 23 mugs we have, and it tasted just the same. I can like things MY WAY, but I must never think that is THE WAY. And I don’t get to sit on the throne. The situation will decide what is the BEST WAY. That’s the one I want. We upset ourselves with each other over such trivial things!
How do we cross that line? By valuing OUR WAY more than the person who is disrupting it. Remember our code of conduct: Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. People have to come first. We make so many choices without being aware of making them.
There is a key to resolving this internal/external dilemma (how I want it vs. how to get along with others)—flexibility. It saddens me that Bible-believers have gained a reputation for being inflexible. The only people Jesus didn’t seem very flexible with were the Pharisees and the moneychangers. Old age brings us a warning: inflexibility encroaches upon us. Our joints and our muscles (and even our brains) will inevitably tighten up. Our spirits were never meant to.
I am starting to get it and I want to pass it on: as we step into the newness of our relationship with God, we are becoming younger. Miracle of miracles! I realize I am a babe in terms of knowing Him. Except ye become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. And I am only going to grow in that knowledge. All is as it should be.
We like order when we get older because our nerves are shot.