Many of these entries from doing some detective work would have been around the later 1980's. One entry was dated 1988. This was during the time they lived in Castaic, California.
All of us kids were busy adding to the family tree. And it was the summer my father had his heart attack and sent my mother into care giving mode as well as thoughts of how life fragile is.
So back to the note book. The entry has no title and is written by an anonymous author.
"Lord, thou knowest better than I know that
I am growing older, will some day BE OLD.
Keep me from getting talkative, and particularly from
the fatal habit of thinking I must say something on
every subject and every occasion.
(My mother loved to talk and perhaps knew that she
had a tendency to being overly talkative and that is
what might have drawn her to these writings.)
Release me from craving to try to straighten out
everybody's affairs.
Make me thoughtful, but not moody, helpful but not
bossy. With my vast store of wisdom it seems a pity
not to use it all, but thou knowest, Lord, that I want
a few friends at the end of my life.
Keep my mind free from the recital of endless details,
give me wings to get to the point.
Seal my lips on my aches and pains. They are
increasing and my love of rehearsing them is
becoming sweeter as the years go by.
I ask for grace enough to listen to the tales of others
pain. Help me endure them patiently.
Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally it is
possible that I may be mistaken.
Keep me reasonably sweet. I do not want to be a saint
some are hard to live with, but a sour old person
is one of the crowning works of the devil.
Help me to exact all possible fun out of life.
There are so many funny things around us and
I don't want to miss any of them." Anonymous
And now, I find my self wanting to ask the Lord for some of those same qualities as I get older or when I am older and find myself talkative and rehearsing my aches and pains.
No comments:
Post a Comment