Living Each Day

                                                        
 There are some things about life or death that I don’t understand. I do know that life at best is short. The passing of loved ones or friends is hard to take.

 A measure of comfort came to me from a novelist. He has a priest say, “She really hasn’t left for good. She’s just gone on ahead a little.”

 I’ve played most sports. Not well but enthusiastically. I’ve tried to never leave anything on the field, on the court or on the course. Putting is another way, I’ve tried never to leave anything in the tank. To hold nothing back.

 I like what Edward Kennedy said at his brother Bobby’s eulogy, “He loved life and lived it intensely.”

 When I was just a kid-70 plus years ago- I heard a minister say and I remember it to this day. “I would rather wear out than rust out.”  I didn’t know what it meant back then, but I think I do now. As I’m on the brink of my 84^th birthday.

 At this stage of my life, I’ve made my peace with God. In my daily prayers I remind Him of His promises. To love, to forgive, to be with, to care for, to be absent from my body is to be present with Him-on and on.

But now my interest and concern is for the time I have left on this earth. Make today count is my motto. Each second is precious. James Baldwin, famous black novelist, said it best. “The challenge of living is to be present in every thing you do. From getting up in the morning to going to bed at night.”

 I don’t know about you but God has given me an insatiable curiosity. To fulfill that need, I believe, is why I became a minister, a therapist, a professor, a columnist and a world traveler.

 I like people and I want to know all about them. Who, when, where, what, why and how. The answers I get somehow satisfies the questions I have about them and myself. The answers also help me to understand and rationalize my views about life.

 I believe that God works and answers prayer through people.

 The reasons are simple. I need help to quench my burning fever of boredom. Other people also give suggestions to satisfy my curiosity. Many suggestions are from those whom I’ve never met personally. God does work in mysterious ways.

 For example, President Bill Clinton. I’ve never met him but have admired him from afar. Recently I heard him say something that fired me up and challenged me to think outside the box. He said, “Every problem is an opportunity.”

 Reverend Robert Schuler of the Chrystal Cathedral said, “Find a need and fill it.” Victor Frankl was one of the great thinkers of the past century. He was the father of Cognitive Therapy. I heard him say, “There is a saving element in every situation.”

 If God would speak to Moses through a burning bush, He can certainly speak to me through these words of encouragement and advice.

 1. Every problem can be an opportunity.

 2. Find a need and fill it.

 3. There is a saving element in every situation.

 I call these three view points, axioms. Problems, Needs and Situations.

 On September 27 I will have lived 84 years on this earth. On September 28, it is the first day of the rest of my life. (Old Quaker proverb). I begin every day with the words, “This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

 Elsa Maxwell, the noted comic, said, “I wake up every day and wonder what wonderful and exciting things I will encounter.” I want to make my days count, and to satisfy my curiosity and to eliminate any boredom I may have. I endorse the view of Ms. Maxwell; and Clinton, Schuler and Frankl.

Amen. Selah. So be it.

     Bill Abersold Ph.D
        SIT-DOWN COMIC
         30 years experience
          All groups-10-1000

WORDS TO THINK ABOUT

G. W. Abersold Ph.D.