ON FINDING COMFORT IN OUR REGRETS

My understanding of the second half of life is mostly homesickness for the True Self. I want to learn to be who God really created me to be. And I think all God wants me to be is who I really am. -- Fr Richard, Daily Meditation, May 6, 2024 [That was a direct thought of mine on awakening this morning. Again, my regrets are the gifts of gold that help tell who I really am.]

Giftees to me personally from the 23rd Psalm:

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. There it is, the promise that delivers peace of mind: I shall not want...I have enough. I shall never not have enough for the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me. When, not if, I walk through the valley of the shadow of fear...fear of dementia, of being left all alone, of being unloved, unwanted, unneeded, unappreciated, I heed them not for thou are with me, within me.

Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thy rod and thy staff are love and laughter.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies...It is God Itself that prepares the table before me in the presence of my fears, and nothing turns me to God faster than fear. I can unheed my fear for thou are with me within me.

Immediately upon reading Fr Richard's I want to learn to be who God really created me to be, my meditation on the 23rd Psalm flowed through me. Each of the little blinding flashes of the obvious that I have set out above has come to me over the years. Each still gives me the peace and joy I got when first I received them. As I settle into my second half of life, nothing could comfort me more.

Thank you.