![]() During one of the summers of this project, my wife and I helped her get ready for college three hours away, and we also helped her learn to drive. Throughout her childhood and teenage years, I stayed home with her every summer. Like most of us, though, I want to enjoy as much of this sweet life for as long as I can the hope for a long, full life is, after all, a biblical hope, too, and not only Paul’s eagerness to be with the Lord as soon as possible (Phil. I know that for all my sure confidence in eternal life-that my parents are indeed recipients of all the Bible’s most precious promises-that I’ll live the remainder of my life with that empty place within, until I, too, receive those promises. The empty place in my heart that began with my dad’s death and then the sale of the home has now widened. But then Mom’s health took a downturn and she passed away in hospice care. One of the saddest chores, from which I’ve still not recovered emotionally, was selling my childhood home, where Mom lived nearly fifty years. I received advice and help from knowledgeable people. Her affairs, especially health care regulations for the elderly, have been complex. For several years my widowed mother lived in a nursing home and I managed her financial matters. Like many millions of people in my age group, I’ve had simultaneous care of two generations. My own life is on the whole wonderful (no major illness at the moment, for instance) but never stress-free or grief free. The temptation, though, is to fail to integrate all three (personal life, the world, and the Bible), so that you’re a churchgoer whose opinions and attitudes are formed only partially by Bible teachings, or you’re a decent person who has never sought the living God through his Spirit-gifted Word. The theologian Karl Barth famously said that we should read the Bible and the newspaper together, but reading news sources is itself an integration of your personal life and activities with the world at large, and the Bible can give us the framework for both. ![]() ![]() We take time amid other activities to volunteer at our congregations and other local organizations. Many of us do keep up with a religious life as best we can amid many other aspects of our lives: we’ve jobs we like or hate, we have and think about sex, follow favorite sports teams, enjoy pastimes, love (and deal with) our families, love our pets, worry about money, carry deep wounds, and wish certain things about life were different. It also reminds me that, as we strive to have a relationship with God, something or other is always threatening to carry off our spiritual resolve, and in some cases to hamper faith. It makes me think how Christ reaches into even the smallest and most everyday cares. That humorous image (apparently a common problem at the time in churches and monasteries) stands out to me. The Book of Kells at Trinity College, Dublin is filled with fascinating art, Celtic patterns, and symbolism, but one of my favorites is a drawing of a cat chasing a mouse, which in turn has a piece of the Eucharistic bread in its mouth. ![]()
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