Quotes for My 40th!

At 20 years of age the will reigns; at 30 the wit; and at 40 the judgment. – Ben Franklin

The first forty years of life give us the text; the next thirty supply the commentary. – Arthur Schopenhauer

Forty is the old age of youth; fifty is the youth of old age. – French Proverb

A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman’s birthday but never remembers her age. – Robert Frost

To hold the same views at forty as we held at twenty is to have been stupefied for a score of years, and take rank, not as a prophet, but as an unteachable brat, well birched and non the wiser. – Robert Louis Stevenson

There are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents…and only one for birthday presents, you know.  – Lewis Carroll

When I passed forty I dropped pretense, ’cause men like women who got some sense. – Maya Angelou

Auld Lang Syne in March

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind ?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne ?

-Robert Burns

There are dedicated times in life for reflection.  On New Years Eve, we collectively take a day to reflect upon the year that’s ending as we anticipate the year to come.  Every year, it was a tradition in my family to have chicken on New Years Eve and pork with sour kraut on New Years Day.  In the Pennsylvanian Dutch tradition this is done because the chicken roots backwards and the pig roots forward.  They also believed serving pork and sour kraut as the first meal of the new year brought blessing to the family. New Years Eve is a time of reflection while New Years Day is a time for defining goals, aspirations and dreams.

I am turning 40 in a few days and the past few months have been like a long New Years Eve for me.  There is something about turning 40 that causes you to really reflect upon your life.  Some people will tell you that it is just a number, but I disagree.  What’s important is that we take time at critical junctures in our lives to pause and to ponder.  

In the book of Haggai, God commands not once but twice to consider your ways.  According to “David Guzik’s Commentary on the Bible”, this is a Hebrew figure of speech which literally means to put your heart on your roads.  This implies that we need to reflect upon where we’ve been and where we are going.  But by putting our heart to our roads (to where we’ve been and where we are going), we put our deeds and accomplishments to the fiery test of the heart.  Is this truly lasting? Does this have eternal or termporal significance? What is my purpose? Am I fulfilling my purpose? Am I a positive influence in the lives of others?  In the lives of the next generation? Am I truly serving God? Is my life bearing fruit? 

I would offer after 2 score years what the Psalmist said in Psalms 119:59:  I pondered the direction of my life, and I turned to follow your laws.  My desire is to be as it says in 2 Timothy 2:19 an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.