Aging Capriciously

Last year at my 40^th Demontreville Retreat, one of the exercises that we were given by the Retreat Master included a very challenging set of thoughts.  The worksheet for the activity was labeled as “A Testament.” I took the worksheet and instructions home with me.  It had fourteen tasks or reflections to complete.  I did not desire to complete them during the retreat.  It is now almost a year since my retreat, and I have decided to make the mental and emotional effort necessary to complete this “Testament.”

The worksheet started with these instructions:

Imagine that this is the last day of your life on earth.  In the time that you have left, you want to leave a “Testament” for your family and friends.  Each of the following could serve as chapter headings for your “Testament.”

8. These are the lessons that life has taught me.

Ironic that the greatest Lesson I have learned in life is one that I have not mastered.  I have been (and probably still am) one of the most impatient people in the world.  I hate lines.  I hate regressions.  I hate delays.  I hate redundancies.  I hate process inefficiencies.  I hate waiting for Trump to get his just deserts.  I hate waiting to see his sycophantic followers crying in their beer when he goes to jail.

Martin Luther King said that, “The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”  I wish every day that I could speed the arc up.  I eat fast.  Brush my teeth fast.  Get ready fast.  But I am working on slowing down.  A good friend of mine once told me while we were canoeing to, “stop and smell the roses more often.”  Patience is one of my seven cardinal values.  I devote time each week to reflecting on and thinking about patience.  I certainly need as much practice as I can get with being patient.

Patience is a prerequisite for a happy and healthy life.  I say it and I believe it even if I don’t always manage to practice it.  Patience is the foundation for everything we ever achieve in life.  I know this is true and I know I will probably be working on patience for the remainder of my life.  But please do not let my inconsistencies and lack of progress rob this virtue from your consideration.  Don’t take my word for it.  Here are some others, much wiser than I am, who have extoled the virtues and benefits of patience:

• “He that can have patience can have what he will.” — Benjamin Franklin
• “The strongest of all warriors are these two — Time and Patience.” — Leo Tolstoy
• “A man who is a master of patience is master of everything else.” — George Savile

Perhaps the second most important Lesson I have learned in life is that if you speak out against injustice, if you stand up to injustice, if you rage against unfair and hypocritical institutions, you will not be safe.  Bernadine Dohrn famously said, “You can say whatever you want in America, until someone starts listening to you”  Once you start being heard, you will be viciously assaulted.  You may lose your job, lose your prestige and even lose your life.

Today, protesters against the genocide and murders taking place in Gaza are being labeled as terrorists, unpatriotic and of course Anti- Semites.  The establishment (including most of the Democratic Party) is attacking the integrity and courage of these young student protestors with some of the worst slander and insults to free speech that I have heard since the Vietnam War and Civil Rights protests.  Dohrn also said “Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.”  It is obvious that this is not believed by Biden and his supporters and most of the Republicans in office.  My lesson here is to have the courage and integrity to speak your truth but don’t expect a standing ovation.

I have learned many other Lessons in my few years on this earth.  Here are some that I believe are important.  I may have already talked about these in other reflections:

• Time is more valuable than money.
• Kindness is more important than knowledge.
• Love makes the world go round but it won’t pay the bills.
• Power corrupts but money is a more powerful drug.  Money can destroy you even faster than any drug will.
• If you want to be healthy, keep moving.  Have an exercise plan and work it.  Never give up but adjust to your circumstances.
• We choose our attitudes. I can wake up mean or I can wake up kind.  I can go to bed mean or I can go to bed kind.  God has nothing to do with my attitude.
• I need to be grateful, thankful, and charitable to all for the life that I am living.

  Next Reflection:    

9. These are the influences (people, events, experiences, books) that have shaped me.