I have learned from Gordon MacDonald’s writings that in India life is seen in four phases: “The first is the phase of the student where one sets out to learn all he can from the wise men. Second, is the phase of the householder where one marries, establishes a home and family and provides what is needed. A third phase comes in the wake of the householder period, and that is the phase of the seeker. The seeker goes out into the world to learn what is really important in the light of many years of life. The seeker is prepared to listen in humility and is not distracted with the need to prove himself or demonstrate his power. The fourth phase is when the earnest seeker becomes the wise man to whom students come. The wise man is the one who speaks out of the soul and who has become comfortable with but respectful of the deeper mysteries. One finds peace and wisdom in the presence of the wise person. And none of this can happen apart from aging.”
The journey through life is a school of education. Life is an experiment of trial and error, a wave of ups and downs. It is almost if not impossible to live life on a level plain. Life comes with joys and sorrows, with health and sickness, with good days and bad. But like the seasons of Winter, Summer, Spring and Fall and like the sunshine and rain, the cloudless sky and the dark storm clouds with thunder and lightning and like the arid desserts of the world and the rain soaked jungles and like the calm of the sea and the roaring seas driven by hurricanes there is a purpose and meaning behind it all. For you see, as we move through this journey called life, we are being molded and shaped. How we respond to what happens to us has everything to do with whether we are people of faith or not. It is God’s intention that we choose faith and a relationship with him and that we understand that this life journey is preparation for the eternal life that comes when we pass from this earth. It is a tragedy of tragedies if one moves through the phases of life and excludes God. If the phases of life do not draw us to a closer relationship with God, we are of all men to be pitied. Proverbs 1:7 says “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.”
Hopefully as we age, we become wiser. True wisdom demands a relationship with God.
In His Love,
Charles
