What Shall I Count?

Another decade passes,

I pause to ponder what this means.

It’s a time of change,

     children, now grown, are off on new adventures,

     their childhood pets, much loved furry friends, have left us too,

     familiar routines, comfortable patterns, are no longer needed.

What shall I count?

     not loss,

     not endings,

     not days, years or decades.

An inner voice whispers, “go higher!”

Thought rises.

In the circle of eternity there are no beginnings or endings,

     no trips around the sun to mark our progress,

     just infinite outpouring of good from the all-loving

     Father-Mother.

What wonderful gifts!

     home, family, children,

     the love to nurture them,

     the wisdom to guide them,

     and the means to feed and clothe them.

My heart fills with joy and gratitude for such bounty!

My thoughts no longer of empty nests, but baskets of blessings,

     joyful anticipation of ongoing good,

     new views of existence,

     of loveliness, freshness, and continuity.*

That’s what counts!

* From a passage written by Mary Baker Eddy in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, page 246:25-31

"Each succeeding year unfolds wisdom, beauty, and holiness.  Life is eternal.  We should find this out, and begin the demonstration thereof.  Life and goodness are immortal.  Let us then shape our views of existence into loveliness, freshness, and continuity, rather than into age and blight."