“I decided if you’re lucky enough to be alive, you should use each birthday to celebrate what your life is about.” ~ Mary Steenburgen
Celebration. That is what life should be all about. When we celebrate, we give people an opportunity to join along and to feel better about themselves as well. Celebration can lift the spirits and fill a person with hope. Celebration can erase a whole lot of doubt, grief, or despair. Celebration is a heck of a lot better than being down in the dumps.
“What should we celebrate?” one might ask. Mary Steenburgen suggested that we should celebrate what life is all about. On my sixty-third birthday, I celebrate what my life is all about: my relationship with God and my priesthood.
I feel so blessed to think that God created me in His image and likeness just as He has created us all. I feel more blessed that God called me to serve Him in the priesthood. The journey has not been easy at all times and I have not always been the best or most faithful witness that I could have been. That’s the problem with our humanity. It often gets in the way.
Yet, as they say, “warts and all”, He continues to call me to conversion and to deeper relationship with Him. That gives me the courage to say yes to Him. I know that He will never leave me alone. There might be times that I feel quite alone and wonder where He went. That is usually because I am not looking in His direction as I should but have been distracted by human concerns.
The world is a very distracting place. Just when we think our relationship with God is closer than it has ever been, we find ourselves, with the best intentions, stepping off the path because we took our eyes off of God. All it takes is a simple plea and reaching out our hand to Him to get back on the path.
I am at an “interesting” age. I find my parents’ predictions coming true regarding age. Time is moving incredibly swift and my body is changing as osteoarthritis and other things try to take control. I could be like many who hate aging and lament all the things going wrong or I could celebrate the life that I am given each day and continue on as faithfully as possible.
I choose the latter. I choose to celebrate life this day and to continue living as faith-filled a life as possible. I look forward to my first birthday celebration some day in the Kingdom. Until then, I’ll settle for this earthly celebration today.
FAITH ACTION: Pray for all those who do not feel life is worth celebrating that they might have a wonderful and blessed day.