A friend recently sent me a couple of her favorite books as a gift. One looks like an easy read, but with deep thoughts. The other is a far more difficult read, but also with deep thoughts. I started on the more difficult one, “Being Mortal, Medicine and What Matters in the End” by Atul Gawande.
The book, as far as I am into it (I am about halfway through it), deals with aging and medicine and how as a culture we care for people who age. It is not a cheery book, probably since I am dealing with aging and seeing some of the problems of medical treatments, safety, and decline in my not-so-distant future. But it is extremely insightful and has given me much about which to think.
One thing that stands out so far is that people who lose a reason to live decline faster than those who maintain things in their life which they enjoy and are still allowed to pursue (even if it means being a little less safe).
As I have been making my way through the book, I am reminded of what some might call my “life verse.” It is found in Proverbs, and it often was part of my signature line in my work emails. “A merry [joyful HCSB] heart does good, like medicine.” [Proverbs 17:22a NKJV]
I have tried to embrace this verse my entire life, no matter the difficulties or struggles I faced. But there is a second part of that verse that might be even more significant, especially at this stage of my life. “But a broken spirit dries the bones.” [Proverbs 17:2b NKJV]
As unsettling as this book can be at times, as unsettling as my life can be at times, that verse reminds me that God understood the difficulties of aging long before modern man began to explore them, and I can be reassured of His faithfulness to me in every stage of life.
