From the Rector…
Getting old is hard. I watch our almost 17-year-old dog trying to navigate her daily life, facing the challenges and struggles of each day. Where she once bounded up the stairs, showed strong resistance to anything she didn’t want to do, barked at the top of her lungs, and ran and played with ease; she now struggles just to get on her feet and has to wear diapers. Some days, I feel deep sorrow and pity for her, but then I am reminded of her enduring spirit, courage, and determination. Banshee is not planning to leave this life anytime soon, and she certainly isn’t going to give up on it.
As I grow older, I become increasingly aware of the wisdom of the elders in my community. Life may be a struggle at times, with aching joints and arthritis, but the changes of the body and the circumstances of life offer more than frustration; they can grant great wisdom.
At the end of Compline, we sing the Nunc Dimittis or Song of Simeon as it is often called. This hauntingly beautiful and poetic expression of peace is sung by a man named Simeon (thus its name). Simeon was an old man described in the Gospel of Luke as righteous and devout. God told Simeon that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. When Mary and Joseph brought the baby Jesus to the temple to be circumcised, Simeon took the babe in his arms and sang this song in praise of God:
Lord, you now have set your servant free
to go in peace as you have promised;
For these eyes of mine have seen the savior,
whom you have prepared for all the world to see:
A light to enlighten the nations,
and the glory of your people Israel. (BCP p. 135)
Simeon’s song is a powerful testament to who we understand Jesus to be and how God is active in our world. His story is immediately followed by the story of Anna. Scripture describes her as “of great age” and noted to be 84. She never left the temple and was considered a prophet. She proclaimed Jesus as “the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.” (Luke 2:38)
Simeon and Anna navigated old age as faithful witnesses to the power and purpose of God. The promise made to them was not that they wouldn’t suffer or that life would be easy, but rather a promise of hope and redemption. Their lives testify not only to God and the Messiah, but to our purpose as we age, even as our bodies become more limited and our opportunities lessened.
Each of us has a purpose. We spend the first half of our lives trying to discover what that purpose might be, and then we spend the second part living into the only purpose we have always had—bearing witness to and glorifying God. Some of us figure this out sooner than others, but whether we are twenty years old or 108, we are created to bear witness to God. This is true of each of us regardless of our mental or physical abilities or disabilities—as long as we are breathing, we are glorifying God.
Banshee struggles each day to get up and keep going. And each day her tenacity and courage serve as a witness to me of the power of God in his creation. Banshee has become humble, weak, and vulnerable—qualities I would never have assigned to her in her youth. In so becoming, she and I have deepened our relationship of love and compassion, finding new power and courage in one another. And that gives me hope—her witness to me of the promise of God, of the Messiah.
Light and Life,
Candice+