Lately I’ve been kicking around II Corinthians 4:16: “So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.” As I ponder these words, I guess I’m somewhere between believing that they are true because I am experiencing them and hoping they are true because, well, I hope they are true.

I know the first part is certainly true; the outer nature is wasting away. A long time ago I got to the point on life’s journey that I stopped wondering who the guy in the mirror is and started wondering who the young fellow in the old photographs was. I am sure some of the physical things I clearly remember doing when I was young just can’t be true. I am equally sure that feeling like I am Rocky Balboa, ready to go fifteen rounds with Apollo Creed, just because I was able to skip my afternoon nap actually isn’t all that impressive. I’m not saying that I’m not a reasonably healthy sixty-four year old; it’s just that I’m sixty-four and the outer nature is persistently wasting away.

The good news is that the second part of the verse appears to be true as well. The inner nature is being renewed day by day. I believe I am seeing more clearly, loving more dearly, following more nearly than I ever have. Truth is, the outer wearing down makes this inner growth more likely. When we are young and strong we easily believe that we are independent and don’t need anyone or anything. We are more susceptible to the fallacy that there is some kind of giant scoreboard and power, possessions, and prestige are how we keep score. But, when our bodies let us down and maybe when we hit a few bumps (brick walls) in the road we begin to realize there’s no scoreboard, only life and love in the here and now. We become more willing, as one prayer says, to “give up everything contrary to true religion.” We become less willing to hide or worry about having the right answer or pretending that we are something that we are not. That holy person, with all the right answers, that person simply doesn’t exist.

Here in the third stage, it is a bit easier to see things as they are. The simple truth is, there is pain with life, we are flawed, we do hurt one another, and we do tend to worship pretty much anything other than the great I Am. But, this too is true; the universe is wondrous, we have been given life from God, and we do, however incompletely, love. We experience all these true things (live and move and have our being) in the divine presence that promises to never leave us or forsake us. This is the presence that heard our borning cry and the last thing we will do on this earth is breathe its name. It is this eternally abiding Presence that makes everything sacred.

So it’s OK that the outer is wasting away. We had a good time and it still has its moments but its time is passing. The true adventure is with the One who said, “I am the Way, Truth, and Life.” That’s where we find our way.

To walk in the way, to embrace truth, to live; this is my prayer.