SEEMS MY LAST POST WASN’T AFTER ALL

Last June I published a reflection on my life entitled “Life is for things that matter”. It was the anniversary of the passing of my father-in-law, and concerned my desire to devote my life to meaningful things, as I felt he had done. Then I stopped blogging.

I never decided to stop, never intended to. I simply didn’t post another post. I got busy doing other things. (When you’re retired you do a lot of “other things”.) I thought about posting from time to time but didn’t. Days rolled into weeks, then months. Maybe I had just run out of things to say, but that had never stopped me before. Perhaps something in me thought blogging wasn’t worth devoting any more of my life to. Could be biorhythms, feeling tired or lazy, Jupiter aligned with Mars. Regardless, I’m returning to my keyboard and looking forward to it.

To bring you up to date:

·         We’ve been back from Israel for over a year now. When I first returned I didn’t have anything much to say about our trip. This wasn’t for lack of meaningful experiences, but because it just takes a while to absorb such a thing. As I go along I may have things to say.

·         I’ve started running again. Back in August of 2010 I stopped running because of a chronic foot problem. I figured I was finished for good, but last July I went for a short run, just on a whim, and found I felt fine. So I’m back at it. I’m not a great runner by any means, but I am grateful to be able to go 15 or 20 kilometres a week. At 65 such a blessing is not to be taken for granted. God is good.

·         One of the best things that’s happened to me since I last shared is the solution to a major “migraine” problem that had been making my life increasingly difficult for about seven years. I was at the point where most days (about six a week) were ending in weird vision (halos around light sources and flashes of light) and pain. I’ll unpack the whole story for you in my next post. For now, just know that normal vision and no pain are not to be taken for granted. We expect these things in life, but they really are amazing gifts. There is something to be said for a taste of suffering though. Gratitude, like patience, is a virtue born of trial.

Well, that’s a good beginning, so I’ll sign off for now, except for one last thing. Some of you will recall that I’m not much given to patriotism. A friend, however, sent me an email suggesting a new national anthem. I feel this might have merit, so give it a listen and let me know what you think. (It’s a song so, of course, you will need sound.)

An anthem we can believe in.

With songs like this Canadian culture is secure.