Starship Captain Goes Into Space

 

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Psalm 73:26
Good News Translation
²⁶ My mind and my body may grow weak,
    but God is my strength;
    he is all I ever need.

 

The nonagenarian, William Shatner, stepped down out of the space capsule and walked over and threw his arms around Jeff Bezos. With tears in his eyes and a quaver in his voice, Shatner exclaimed, “What you have given me is the most profound experience!”  He went on, “I hope I never recover from this. I hope that I can maintain what I feel now.” Shatner is worth at least $100,000,000, and Bezos well over $190,000,000,000.  Bezos had just given Shatner a ride some 65 miles high above the earth into space.

When I was a grad student in Iowa City, we didn’t have a TV, so at a local electronics store, Occasionally I used to watch Shatner playing Captain James T. Kirk of the space ship Enterprise as they cruised around through space in the Star Trek series. Since then, he has become famous for his acting roles. Shatner at 90 years old now is still popular. Of course, this actual space flight was a publicity stunt for Bezos, the opulent founder of Amazon. Bezos used this flight to publicize his commercial exploitation of space.  

Read the whole of Psalm 73. The poet, Asaph, compares the affluence and exorbitant lives of the wealthy to his meagre existence. Then his thoughts come back to the life he has as he rests his existence in the hands of God. He recognizes the effect of age on his own mind and body, his flesh and heart in this hymn.

Thank You, Lord, that I, too, find in You my strength and hope.

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[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/13/science/bezos-shatner-star-trek.html

A Fruitful Old Age

 

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Psalm 92:14
King James Version
[The righteous] shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;

 

I wrote this letter to a friend of mine who suffered a hemorrhagic stroke recently:

Dear John,

    Your stroke both stunned and dismayed me. And this hit you before you even had a chance to retire. However, I don’t believe God is finished with you, I do believe that He is trying to communicate something to you. Dad used to say that in order for God to get things through to him, He sometimes had to hit him across the head with a two-by-four. God waited for three years after I retired to hit me with west Nile virus and recurrent cancer. He wanted me to get my act together and use my retirement to “bring forth fruit” in my old age.

    Now is the time to claim this beautiful promise from Psalm 92: the righteous “shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing.” In fact, read the whole psalm, and while you’re about it, read Psalm 91. Our God is strong to save and heal!

Before Christ left His disciples, He reassured them: “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John included this in his gospel for us. 

Christ knew we would go through really trying times, but He is never going to forget any one of us. He promised us in Luke 11: “I say unto you, ‘Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.’”

You may remember that my friend, Bob, had a nasty stroke some thirty-odd years ago. It left him with a limp, but he recovered well. We are praying that God will heal you, too; and restore you to full health!

Thank You Father, that You never do forget us and promise us a fruitful old age.

 

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[1] https://www.app.com/story/life/home-garden/luxury/mansions/2016/12/29/5-most-incredible-mansions-shore/95870234/

Older but not Discouraged

 

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2 Corinthians 4:16 

Good News Translation (GNT)

¹⁶ For this reason we never become discouraged. Even though our physical being is gradually decaying, yet our spiritual being is renewed day after day.

 

When I was in my thirties and forties, I would look in the mirror and say to myself, “You don’t look like you’ve aged at all.” Being a teacher, my students wouldn’t let me get away with that for even a second. One look at me told them I was way out of their league, and they had subtle and not so subtle ways of letting me know it, too. Now, at twice that age, I look in the mirror and wonder who that old guy with sparse white hair is who is looking back at me.

A couple years ago I bumped into a fellow math teacher from another university. I asked him how he was. He smiled and said, “Great! I’m retired and loving it.”

“Why did you retire?” I quizzed.

“When I saw that it was literally taking me twice as long to take care of the paperwork on my desk than it used to, I decided it was time to retire.” He said this in all seriousness.

“I understand all too well,” I empathized.

As I look back at my teaching methods early on, I sometimes shudder. I treated my students the same way my teachers had treated me. I’m aware that I sometimes was too harsh on them. I like to think that I became a more caring person as I matured. Indeed my spiritual being was being renewed on a gradual day after day basis.

Thank You, Almighty Father, that you haven’t given up on me, or anyone else, but still work with us daily.

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[i] https://www.aging.com/the-way-of-living-being-happy-and-healthy-at-an-old-age/