Saturday, May 22, 2021

Reflection - Number Our Days - It's About Time

Source (book): "Teach Us to Number Our Days", Chapter 5, "It's About Time", Page 31.
By David Roper, Pastor, and regular and popular writer for Our Daily Bread.


High notions of oneself are annihilated (destroyed)
PHOTO: High notions of oneself are annihilated (destroyed)
by a glance in the mirror.
- Nobel Poet Czeslaw Milosz

A Botox cosmetic ad appears on our television screen every once in a while, that features a stunningly beautiful young model who smiles at her audience and murmurs, "It's about time." Exactly!

Time is the enemy. We invest in vitamin supplements, serums, tightening concentrates, firming creams, cellulite removers - a plethora (an excessive) of pills and potions - in an effort to stave off (delay) the effects of free-radical damage and try to live, or at least look alive, as long as possible. We battle every age spot, blemish, and bulge, but nothing works very well, or for very long. The hours fill our brow with lines and wrinkles, William Shakespeare lamented. Time overwhelms us. We look our age, and it's not a pretty sight to see.

Which is exactly the point: time takes our "good looks" away. Jeremy Taylor, writing in the seventeenth century, put his finger on the issue. "First, age takes those parts that serve for ornamentation." Thus, "every day calls for a reparation (repair) of that portion which death fed on all night." Each morning we have to repair the damage that was done the night before. As an old friend of mine says: "A little powder, a little paint, makes a girl seem what she ain't."

And don't think for a minute that men are immune to this compulsion. We too are appalled by what we see in the mirror, and each morning must give ourselves to restoration. But no matter what, the trend is downward. It's about time.

We, however, are not about time. The God of all grace has called us to eternal glory! (1 Peter 5:10) In the end, our bodies will be rescued from the tyranny of change and decay, and we will share in the glory that belongs to us as the children of God! When Christ is revealed, we will be revealed in everlasting splendor. (Colossians 3:4) If we could but see ourselves today as we shall be then, we would be left speechless in awe and wonder. (I must add, however, that then, we'll not be self-conscious at all, but consumed with admiration for the beauty that we see in others.)

In the meantime, though the outward person is perishing, we can invest in inward loveliness. The more we center on inner beauty, the less preoccupied we'll be with that external glory that is inexorably (unavoidably) fading away.

Here's the thing: What I hold in my mind will, in time, show up in my face, for as George MacDonald once pointed out, the face is "the surface of the mind." If I cling to bitterness and resentment, if I tenaciously (persistently) hold a grudge, if I fail to forgive, my countenance (face) will begin to reflect those angry moods. My mother used to tell me that a mad look might someday freeze on my face. She was wiser than she knew.

But in the same way, a generous and charitable heart, one filled with grace and forgiveness, will find its way to the surface - for goodness cannot be hidden - and show itself in kind eyes and a face that is gentle and wise.

So my task is not to try to fix my face and make it good (that would be hypocrisy), but to set about killing the ugly things that come out of my heart - "so ugly that they make the very face over them ugly also" (George MacDonald).

Yet I know my heart - how hard it is, how disinclined to change. No one but God can drive its sullen self-centeredness away. So I must ask Him by His power to fulfill every desire for goodness. Then, someday, my face may reflect the holiness He has put into my heart.

I have a friend, a Catholic priest, who served as Mother Teresa's translator when she was here in the United States to address the United Nations. I was in his study one day and spied a picture of the two of them standing together on the streets of New York. I marveled again at her ancient, wrinkled, leathered, lined face, utterly unadorned. Wisdom has softened her face; character had drawn its lines. Gazing at those marks of courage and kindness, I thought: Is there anyone more homely - or more beautiful?

Here was the beauty of holiness. May it be ours as well.
Picture posted by imdb - Imogene Coca and Joe E. Ross in It's About Time (1966)
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8YkWilCy1WEcYC1S43Nf5ohijF1nDaLJ_KOxvJcGfK7K6ZpKxU_nYki7V0xlcuuTEu9DAfeeOjYMhOVc__A0gV-cnFRzzut4bE60pg-JZZz3QZ5l1JtpUoxgOByerssxD0Tj4glSKleE/s1307/MV5BOWUwMmI4MDMtYjYwYi00MzdiLWFiZGItMmRlM2M1N2M4OWE0XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE2NzA0Ng%2540%2540._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BOWUwMmI4MDMtYjYwYi00MzdiLWFiZGItMmRlM2M1N2M4OWE0XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE2NzA0Ng@@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0059997/mediaviewer/rm3272662529/


High notions of oneself are annihilated (destroyed)
by a glance in the mirror.
- Nobel Poet Czeslaw Milosz

A Botox cosmetic ad appears on our television screen every once in a while, that features a stunningly beautiful young model who smiles at her audience and murmurs, "It's about time." Exactly!


A stunningly beautiful young model who smiles at her audience and murmurs, 'It's about time.'
PHOTO: A stunningly beautiful young model who smiles at her audience and murmurs, "It's about time."
Picture posted by cybersrilanka.com
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU-9ZxOY_zPnQP84ggGU6QkjMhyphenhyphenqgqrJbS3fKVlSHxCOQ_DFbamYFewg0_kg74NISJBqBcsl-Mlw5K7Jxf3ra8FfzaN41wOXDbnQCoOrIcklj4JO5tSXqNj3WbMFOesozT-ACvkeq6EdM/s960/Beautiful-Girl-Bathing-3.jpg
https://www.cybersrilanka.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Beautiful-Girl-Bathing-3.jpg
https://www.cybersrilanka.com/beautiful-girl-bathing-hot-photo-shoot-20172.html


Time is the enemy. We invest in vitamin supplements, serums, tightening concentrates, firming creams, cellulite removers - a plethora (an excessive) of pills and potions - in an effort to stave off (delay) the effects of free-radical damage and try to live, or at least look alive, as long as possible. We battle every age spot, blemish, and bulge, but nothing works very well, or for very long. The hours fill our brow with lines and wrinkles, William Shakespeare lamented. Time overwhelms us. We look our age, and it's not a pretty sight to see.


Time is the enemy.
PHOTO: Time is the enemy. We invest in vitamin supplements, serums, tightening concentrates, firming creams, cellulite removers - a plethora (an excessive) of pills and potions - in an effort to stave off (delay) the effects of free-radical damage and try to live, or at least look alive, as long as possible. We battle every age spot, blemish, and bulge, but nothing works very well, or for very long. The hours fill our brow with lines and wrinkles, William Shakespeare lamented. Time overwhelms us. We look our age, and it's not a pretty sight to see. 
Picture posted by cybersrilanka.com
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqshIcEMnzcpksXjnA94513CPcy1WuF0RUmCyqrKEmHYcKt4mmNutBX_xVXmwBuhaCQqaGGCg6NeZg34iVjqhi8owCZh-q9cOPVvvlefV6Ohb6PBKMHh4ef0V4KeZXim1FAFhiHwK7sWc/s960/Beautiful-Girl-Bathing-1.jpg
https://www.cybersrilanka.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Beautiful-Girl-Bathing-1.jpg
https://www.cybersrilanka.com/beautiful-girl-bathing-hot-photo-shoot-20172.html


Which is exactly the point: time takes our "good looks" away. Jeremy Taylor, writing in the seventeenth century, put his finger on the issue. "First, age takes those parts that serve for ornamentation." Thus, "every day calls for a reparation (repair) of that portion which death fed on all night." Each morning we have to repair the damage that was done the night before. As an old friend of mine says: "A little powder, a little paint, makes a girl seem what she ain't."


Time takes our 'good looks' away.
PHOTO: Time takes our "good looks" away. First, age takes those parts that serve for ornamentation. Every day calls for a reparation (repair) of that portion which death fed on all night. Each morning we have to repair the damage that was done the night before. A little powder, a little paint, makes a girl seem what she ain't.
Picture posted by Fion Dao on 25 December 2012 - Lady in red
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdc3dfI0k-rdCOncw9aiMLEwun0Nb-ugt99gr1YELL9M5cDZ7iFmHbwnavHGFEVtWzew7LlxbulocMXDppmyKrIsACh_XtwrPnFrv3Olpf5-6cFU-TIwitjlhcazhizyi0Zccl2mAoGvo/s2048/8312684661_80e83fa176_k.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/8499/8312684661_80e83fa176_k.jpg
https://www.flickr.com/photos/46938192@N06/8312684661/in/album-72157632348851778/


And don't think for a minute that men are immune to this compulsion. We too are appalled by what we see in the mirror, and each morning must give ourselves to restoration. But no matter what, the trend is downward. It's about time.


And don't think for a minute that men are immune to this compulsion.
PHOTO: And don't think for a minute that men are immune to this compulsion. We too are appalled by what we see in the mirror, and each morning must give ourselves to restoration. But no matter what, the trend is downward. It's about time.
Uploaded by Ayla
Picture posted by Gehenna1986_BTS@Gehenna1986B - BTS fanarts - Kim Seokjin
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPVmjMEtwPxIwBEUhHvd73sXou3hCKBKjrEfwwoDo9ngzO2tcc9hv5bKd1jgFHZDv8Bl1YYveghekBWuoDn_SVmp-kpXK69FrBXZvV86pBy2DoYuBgIBzUe1bzfw7NkSV-7J69IpN7Pgo/s1633/2af2390812075733d265429bdd26b593_11.png
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/2a/f2/39/2af2390812075733d265429bdd26b593.jpg
https://br.pinterest.com/pin/779122804266964418/


We, however, are not about time. The God of all grace has called us to eternal glory! (1 Peter 5:10) [31] In the end, our bodies will be rescued from the tyranny of change and decay, and we will share in the glory that belongs to us as the children of God! When Christ is revealed, we will be revealed in everlasting splendor. (Colossians 3:4) [32] If we could but see ourselves today as we shall be then, we would be left speechless in awe and wonder. (I must add, however, that then, we'll not be self-conscious at all, but consumed with admiration for the beauty that we see in others.)


We, however, are not about time.
PHOTO: We, however, are not about time. The God of all grace has called us to eternal glory! (1 Peter 5:10) In the end, our bodies will be rescued from the tyranny of change and decay, and we will share in the glory that belongs to us as the children of God! When Christ is revealed, we will be revealed in everlasting splendor. (Colossians 3:4)
Picture posted by Lissie Hoover on 18 May 2020
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcA4QPe4k5aisP3UqVXkx73EVtyLM6mIdnD6_Wi2EcGQ4Niokex8tOPzX8x0CgcDePoOiScbrzcK5wiYEKCwGPWx-X8uEG46T2Ep_A0xK2NmzYG5B00ebJ3B0q1CQl9_0eX_wm_xwQaCs/s750/Man_Breaks_The_Chains_of_Sin.png
https://res.cloudinary.com/grand-canyon-university/image/fetch/w_750,h_564,c_fill,g_faces,q_auto,f_auto/https://www.gcu.edu/sites/default/files/media/images/Blog/theology-ministry/Man_Breaks_The_Chains_of_Sin.jpg
https://www.gcu.edu/blog/spiritual-life/weekly-devotional-shall-we-sin-grace-may-abound


In the meantime, though the outward person is perishing, we can invest in inward loveliness. The more we center on inner beauty, the less preoccupied we'll be with that external glory that is inexorably (unavoidably) fading away.

Here's the thing: What I hold in my mind will, in time, show up in my face, for as George MacDonald once pointed out, the face is "the surface of the mind." If I cling to bitterness and resentment, if I tenaciously (persistently) hold a grudge, if I fail to forgive, my countenance (face) will begin to reflect those angry moods. My mother used to tell me that a mad look might someday freeze on my face. She was wiser than she knew.


In the meantime, though the outward person is perishing, we can invest in inward loveliness.
PHOTO: In the meantime, though the outward person is perishing, we can invest in inward loveliness. The more we center on inner beauty, the less preoccupied we'll be with that external glory that is inexorably (unavoidably) fading away.
Artwork by Octavio Ocampo - Mouth of Flower
Picture posted by Wikioo
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7iqGEfq5Y9V8kYE94SMslA216oPZMGXyg8pwdlWjT0p2zS3aJhNFoKXJ3tDQerREbZh_GWYvHZu4S3uzPlQyJvGoK3M6MZs4FUCY44-vIKE2kSgqWkUDtZZzl6dGQdR7GcebTrtOFqA8/s2048/Octavio-ocampo-mouth-of-flower.Jpg
https://img.wikioo.org/ADC/Art-ImgScreen-3.nsf/O/A-8XYN2F/$FILE/Octavio-ocampo-mouth-of-flower.Jpg
https://wikioo.org/paintings.php?refarticle=8XYN2F&titlepainting=MUND Blume &artistname=Octavio Ocampo


But in the same way, a generous and charitable heart, one filled with grace and forgiveness, will find its way to the surface - for goodness cannot be hidden - and show itself in kind eyes and a face that is gentle and wise.

So my task is not to try to fix my face and make it good (that would be hypocrisy), but to set about killing the ugly things that come out of my heart - "so ugly that they make the very face over them ugly also" (George MacDonald).


A generous and charitable heart, one filled with grace and forgiveness, will find its way to the surface - for goodness cannot be hidden - and show itself in kind eyes and a face that is gentle and wise.
PHOTO: A generous and charitable heart, one filled with grace and forgiveness, will find its way to the surface - for goodness cannot be hidden - and show itself in kind eyes and a face that is gentle and wise.
Picture posted by ncregister.com - Mother Teresa in 1980 (photo: L'Osservatore Romano)
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEYHaveHXpg5teZcUjWXmOloo4tCJD9keg9GytL0Z3T4a4gGkcelM84WK0AFTnoEwUyVf84oj73Tk4JwVcxFb4C_5leMdUVgQSbcjaMIhD1tcKc73nL3JnFVfhA3csHjbSTZ8irUT6FzQ/s756/2020082721088_5f48049ec2bf74d8ccdfa248jpeg.png
https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-ncregister/swp/hv9hms/media/2020082721088_5f48049ec2bf74d8ccdfa248jpeg.webp
https://www.ncregister.com/news/the-miracles-that-made-mother-teresa-a-saint


Yet I know my heart - how hard it is, how disinclined to change. No one but God can drive its sullen self-centeredness away. So I must ask Him by His power to fulfill every desire for goodness. Then, someday, my face may reflect the holiness He has put into my heart.


Yet I know my heart - how hard it is, how disinclined to change.
PHOTO: Yet I know my heart - how hard it is, how disinclined to change. No one but God can drive its sullen self-centeredness away. So I must ask Him by His power to fulfill every desire for goodness. Then, someday, my face may reflect the holiness He has put into my heart.
Picture posted by Kim Shabang!@!#-T Story - IU, Forbes List of Most Generous Charity Donors in Asia
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ7LQalIV3xbqkyNh7DH1PhaWslo8xY0QNZtJJDrGe1xHrcDCceRIk6Bjnn1mxprTuHx7MPYU12Y3-NQKqRESXd27OwiEc4hohrFsbrQE989ob_Yq8zZYmwVGDlfb0MTZKZftpjUk0DFI/s1350/IU_img.jpg
https://blog.kakaocdn.net/dn/b9eEyj/btqEWA2awp6/kGYCea7Un0XYQY3SBbdADk/img.jpg - (IU_img.jpg)
https://jihye528.tistory.com/117


I have a friend, a Catholic priest, who served as Mother Teresa's translator when she was here in the United States to address the United Nations. I was in his study one day and spied a picture of the two of them standing together on the streets of New York. I marveled again at her ancient, wrinkled, leathered, lined face, utterly unadorned. Wisdom has softened her face; character had drawn its lines. Gazing at those marks of courage and kindness, I thought: Is there anyone more homely - or more beautiful?

Here was the beauty of holiness. May it be ours as well.


Mother Teresa's ancient, wrinkled, leathered, lined face, utterly unadorned. Wisdom has softened her face; character had drawn its lines.
PHOTO: Mother Teresa's ancient, wrinkled, leathered, lined face, utterly unadorned. Wisdom has softened her face; character had drawn its lines. Gazing at those marks of courage and kindness, I thought: Is there anyone more homely - or more beautiful?
Picture posted by Se fossi poesia on 05 September 2019 - Mother Teresa of Calcutta
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVEQuMzfTgK7KJm-dL-pCca4HX8uTH75Gm67EnHv-t7g15VnOQlSVyl-gC_tjyHqQ-QYvc7a7rmb7r3v4PgTWud9j6El7MQKNrWhS0nzjnY7xrMmsLTpnuHPGgB0SZ9Lq_3aCk7tpwh00/s1531/69751892_2351026798299741_7315033731264151552_n.jpg
https://scontent.fsin9-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/69751892_2351026798299741_7315033731264151552_n.jpg?_nc_cat=102&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=jK84bLic0GEAX-kQCXE&_nc_ht=scontent.fsin9-1.fna&oh=d854e98341e01fc0250ca7edd3ec1f3c&oe=60CE99A0
https://www.facebook.com/Sefossipoesia/photos/a.842306932505076/2351026791633075/


Here was the beauty of holiness. May it be ours as well.
PHOTO: "Dear Lord, time takes our ‘good looks’ away and we tried to repair the damage but nothing works very well, or for very long. No matter what, the trend is downward. It's about time.

Lord, we learn that we are not about time. You will call us to eternal glory. In the end, our bodies will be rescued from the tyranny of change and decay, and we will share in the glory that belongs to us as the children of God. When Christ is revealed, we will be revealed in everlasting splendour.

We learn that If we could but see ourselves today as we shall be then, we would be left speechless in awe and wonder. But then, we'll not be self-conscious at all, but consumed with admiration for the beauty that we see in others.

We pray that in the meantime, though the outward person is perishing, we can invest in inward loveliness. Help us to center on inner beauty, and less preoccupied with that external glory that is unavoidably fading away.

Lord, help us not to cling on to bitterness and resentment, hold a grudge, fail to forgive, and let our face to reflect those angry moods. These may someday freeze on our face. Help us instead, to have a generous and charitable heart, one filled with grace and forgiveness. Then it will find its way to the surface - for goodness cannot be hidden - and show itself in kind eyes and a face that is gentle and wise.

However, Lord, do not let us try to fix our face and make it good because that would be hypocrisy, but to set about killing the ugly things that come out of our heart. But we know our heart, how hard it is, how disinclined to change. No one but You can drive its sullen self-centeredness away.

Lord, we ask for Your power to fulfill every desire for goodness. Then, someday, our face may reflect the holiness You has put into our heart.

May the wisdom soften our face, and our character draw its lines. So that gazing at those marks of courage and kindness, everybody will be homely and more beautiful.

Through Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
Picture posted by Randy Brewer
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbtdQnUeHfkGd-KPilveqZm6lUGFPOp0VNn_YKz_NwPygywDfg5CBVKGVVEx2vCzr78umxYHUxzQW-Xn2iXYrN6f__Wk1tsmd3EmxZWh4lBRZtmcPxjfZ0M1ljoWjMBe4CO8xCko4qnSE/s1100/hands-offering-a-plaited-heart.jpg
https://www.brewerdirect.com/finding-my-voice/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/hands-offering-a-plaited-heart.jpg
https://www.brewerdirect.com/finding-my-voice/3-amazing-benefits-of-being-generous/

Reflection - Number Our Days - It's About Time
Source (book): "Teach Us to Number Our Days", Chapter 5, "It's About Time", Page 31.
By David Roper, Pastor, and regular and popular writer for Our Daily Bread.



"Faithful to the end", A Preacher's Exposition of 2 Timothy, @ 2014 by Robert M. Solomon

'Faithful to the end', A Preacher's Exposition of 2 Timothy, @ 2014 by Robert M. Solomon<br>
Reflection - Faithful to the end (Links)
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2017/06/reflection-faithful-to-end-links.html


"Finding rest for the soul" Responding to Jesus' Invitation in Matthew 11:28-29, © 2016 by Robert M. Solomon

Reflection - Finding rest for the soul (Links)
Reflection - Finding rest for the soul (Links)
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2018/10/reflection-finding-rest-for-soul-links.html


"God in Pursuit" Lessons from the Book of Jonah, © 2016 by Robert M. Solomon

'Reflection - God in Pursuit (Links) - PART I-III, posted on Saturday, 10 August 2019
Reflection - God in Pursuit (Links) - PART I-III, posted on Saturday, 10 August 2019
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2019/08/reflection-god-in-pursuit-links-part-i.html


"God in Pursuit" Lessons from the Book of Jonah, © 2016 by Robert M. Solomon

'Reflection - God in Pursuit (Links) - PART IV, posted on Saturday, 10 August 2019
Reflection - God in Pursuit (Links) - PART IV, posted on Saturday, 10 August 2019
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2019/08/reflection-god-in-pursuit-links-part-iv.html 


"Songs of Christmas", The Stories and Significance of 20 Well-Loved Carols, © 2018 by Robert M. Solomon

Reflection - Songs of Christmas (Links), posted on Friday, 24 April 2020
Reflection - Songs of Christmas (Links), posted on Friday, 24 April 2020
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/04/reflection-songs-of-christmas-links.html
 

"Growing Old Gracefully", Following Jesus to the End, © 2019 by Robert M. Solomon

Reflection - Growing Old Gracefully, Part I - III (Links), posted on Wednesday, 09 December 2020
Reflection - Growing Old Gracefully, Part I - III (Links), posted on Wednesday, 09 December 2020
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/12/reflection-growing-old-gracefully-part.html
 

Reflection - Growing Old Gracefully, Part IV - V (Links), posted on Thursday, 22 April 2021
Reflection - Growing Old Gracefully, Part IV - V (Links), posted on Thursday, 22 April 2021
https://veryfatoldman.blogspot.com/2020/12/reflection-growing-old-gracefully-part_9.html
 


Reference
[1] From "Teach Us to Number Our Days", Copyright © 2008 by David Roper, ISBN 978-981-11-7184-0, Chapter 5, "It's About Time", Page 31-34.

[31] See 1 Peter 5:10.

[32] See Colossians 3:4.



Links


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