Article October 29, 2018 Issue

The gift of ageless living

Hilary D. Waller

During my childhood, my mother lovingly planned fun birthday parties for me that included games, party hats, birthday cake, and ice cream shared with friends. While I have happy memories of those parties, as an adult I’ve realized that marking the passing years does not help me learn more about my actual immortal life as a child of God. I’ve been inspired by Mary Baker Eddy’s counsel in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “Never record ages. Chronological data are no part of the vast forever. Time-tables of birth and death are so many conspiracies against manhood and womanhood. Except for the error of measuring and limiting all that is good and beautiful, man would enjoy more than threescore years and ten and still maintain his vigor, freshness, and promise” (p. 246).

On a recent birthday, it seemed more important than ever to claim exemption from the limitations that a mortal sense of life would impose on man. I was struggling with various challenges, and while I had no desire for a material gift, I felt that a spiritual gift would definitely be welcome. I asked myself, Why not accept the gift of spiritual understanding and healing? I decided to spend the day mentally sitting at the feet of Christ, listening for divine inspiration.

One of the first ideas that came to me was, How freeing it is to know that Life—a synonym for God—is not circumscribed by a mortal timeline. Instead of thinking of ourselves as checking off years within a limited allotment, we can let go of a sense of finite personhood and reach for a higher understanding of man as God’s eternal expression.

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