It’s my birthday today, and I’ve just been thinking of all
those that have gone before – birthdays, I mean! It would be lovely to have a
list of what I did on my birthday every year, kind of like a ladder.
I would
love to have my memory jogged to recall in better detail those beautifully
decorated doll cakes my mother made on the alternate years when we had parties.
I’d love to cast my eye down the list of names of friends and family with whom
I celebrated, and remember.
I remember a few clearly. The early teen year when my friend
Linda and I, whose birthdays were one day apart, thought we were gathering with
a group of girlfriends to go ice skating, only to be ‘kidnapped’ by my mother
and others and taken to the Camp Fire Girls day camp where we camped overnight,
cooking dinner over an open fire and sleeping in pup tents. Memorable and fun.
My 21st was spent in Stirling where I was an
exchange student for a year. Three friends and I ate dinner in a Chinese
restaurant together – it felt a little dull and anticlimactic.
On my 40th, we had a party and danced to the
sounds of the 60s, which was wonderful.
Today I will celebrate with one son and his wife coming up
for the weekend, and we shall all go to another son and his wife’s new home
tomorrow for lunch. I’m also meeting my sister in law for a coffee and scone,
and was out for dinner last night with close friends. It’s amazing to be made
to feel special.
Every year, April 12th is a stepping stone
through my life towards its climax. I’m thinking of Jacob’s ladder, the story
in the Bible where Jacob has a dream of a ladder joining earth to heaven, with
angels going up and down on it. When he awakens he exclaims, ‘God was in this
place and I didn’t know.’ Then he builds an altar there and worships.
God has been with me on every step through my life, and
sometimes I didn’t notice. Jesus was criticised by the more serious religious
types for spending too much time eating and drinking – at parties. Celebrations
are God’s specialty, and I like to think that as I get closer to the top of my
ladder, I am approaching my eternal home where there is plenty of singing and
dancing, and everybody is special.
So today, as I intersperse various jobs that need doing with
moments of sharing and making new memories, I will reflect on those steps that
went before – the ones I can recall. I will delight as I open cards and receive
good wishes from loved ones near and far. And I will be awe-struck that despite
the billions of people alive now and who have gone before, God made me unique,
a one-off, and to him I am special.
As are you.
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