:. older and wiser .:

I recently enjoyed coffee and conversation with a very dear, very long-time friend. It was one of those cold winter afternoons, and we cozied up to the fireplace at our favorite neighborhood coffee shop.
First of all, what a wonderful invention, the coffee shop! Thank you, Juan Valdez, or Joe Starbuck, or whomever had the idea. And what a blessing to have a friend worthy of the name with whom to share an afternoon! She and I have been through a lot of life together: babies, teen-agers, good times, bad times, illness, funerals, weddings . . . everything that makes up life.

Naturally we reminisced quite a bit, and as we chatted, we got to talking about the fact that with age comes wisdom (or it should, anyway). And if not wisdom, at the very least a certain stoicism that allows you to relax and not worry so much about the minutiae of life. The more times you've 'been around the block', the more you realize that things work out, that God is faithful, that worry never changes anything anyway, etc and etc. That knowledge allows you to not sweat the small stuff, or the big stuff either for that matter.

Mary Shelley wrote of "those sorrows which are sent to wean us from the earth." What a lovely and apt description of the trials of this life! This earth is not our home, and we were never meant to feel entirely comfortable here. We were created for eternity, and meant for something much more substantial than this passing world.

Thank goodness.

Just imagine if this life was so perfect, so good, so HAPPY and fulfilling ALWAYS. That sounds idyllic, but if that were the case, you would never want to leave it. And that simply isn't an option. The tears that accumulate over years really do help wean us from our satisfaction with this imperfect place that is only ours for a time.

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE life! I love my family and friends; I love the beauty of this world, and learning, and stretching, and discovering.

But I also am thrilled that there's more beyond what this world offers. And the older you get, the more you understand and welcome that. You neither fear nor dread the future with all its unknowns. You don't invent trouble, worrying about those ubiquitous "what-ifs" that rarely, if ever, come to pass. Instead, you view life through a prism of peace . . . especially as a child of the Living God.

Yes, you are aware that no one is immune from trouble and tears. But you don't waste precious moments worried that trials will come; rather you just wait to meet them head-on when they do arrive. It's a rather nice way to live.

I know this at 50; imagine the wisdom I will have at 70!