Today's Scripture Reading (February 1, 2022): Deuteronomy 31
A few years ago, in a letter of retirement
addressed to his patients, my family doctor wrote that he had been advising his
patients for years that the best decade was the seventh one, that time between
the age of 60 and 70. And as he was already halfway through that decade, he
wanted to stop working and enjoy the years he had left. His words stuck with
me. And now that I have entered that same decade, I hear his words
reverberating in my mind. These are my best years. But my best years won't last forever.
Our reality is that we all get older. And I am
already noticing time's
approach. There are things that I love to do that I just can't do anymore, which impresses on me that I need to
enjoy the things that I can do. In an era where "complicating health conditions" are part of our societal discourse, I am reminded
that I and
several of my friends
are suffering from these complicating factors. Yet, I still feel that there is much to be done if God allows me to do it.
Moses is a hundred and twenty years old. And he
understands that his time as leader of the nation is now at an end. It was
something that God had told him. The exact words that God spoke to Moses and
his brother Aaron were "because you did not trust in me enough to honor
me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this
community into the land I give them" (Numbers 20:12). But the words are
specific. All of us will come to the point in our lives when we are no longer
able to lead, but that does not mean that we will no longer be on the journey.
Over the next decade, I realize that I will leave my leadership role to
another, but I will still be part of the journey. It is quite possible that
Moses could have left his position as leader, turning his leadership role over
to Joshua, and yet still crossed the Jordan River. But either God had clarified
what he meant when he told Moses, "you will not bring this community into
the land I give them," or Moses had assumed that God meant that he would
not cross the river. Either way, Moses understood that the end of his journey
was near. We know his health was still good because he would soon climb a
mountain as a final act of life. Moses was not limited by his health, but the
Prophet knew that God had spoken and that he could only go as far as God would
allow him to go.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 32
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