Basecamp Family
Albert Bogle
January 04, 2017
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Psalm 39: 4-6
4 ‘Show me, Lord, my life’s end
and the number of my days;
let me know how fleeting my life is.
5 You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
the span of my years is as nothing before you.
Everyone is but a breath,
even those who seem secure.6 ‘Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom;
in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth
without knowing whose it will finally be.
Our lives have many basecamps where we stop and draw inspiration before we continue to the next base. Creating a family legacy of love and compassion, forgiveness and mercy must surely be at least one of the greatest achievement we should all aim for as we move through life. Each of us has a responsibility to ensure that our families are never exclusive, that we always leave space for others to be welcomed into even deeper bonds of friendship and loyalty.
As I write this reflection Martha and I have just become grandparents for the second time. I hope that the world will be a kinder place than it is today for the children of the future. However they have their own contribution to make to the world and I guess the timing of their birth decides where and when that contribution will be made. I pray it will be a good one.
It is at a time like this we are aware that life is a gift from God. For me it is not a given or even a right. It is a mystery in God’s hands. All through our lives we move from one stage to another. From youth to middle age to old age. As we move forward into another year and perhaps another basecamp let us all take note of the words of the psalmist when he writes , “So teach us to number our days that we might apply our hearts to wisdom". Psalm 90.12
Lord,
Thank you for basecamps
For people who inspire and encourage us.
Children and parents and grandparents
Aunts and uncles
Neighbours and friends
All who make up the extended family
Teach us how to be inclusive
Open hearted.
Give us the will and the energy and the understanding
To be more considerate to each other this year.
Help us to share more of our lives with each other
The good and the bad
Give us grace to be
Less critical of our family faults
Help us learn from
the waiting times
the wishing times
the wondering times
Draw a circle of love and protection around
all who are vulnerable and feeling unwanted.
Today we pray,
For the children about to be born
The children who have just been born
The children who have been waiting for years on the will
Of a father
Or a mother
To say yes to a their life
Grant to us the wisdom to know when
To step out and say yes to the next stage of our lives
Give us the grace to apply our hearts to wisdom
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