Old Friends

Over the years, I have had many conversations with the voice inside my head. She is a familiar friend.

It’s the same voice I heard as a child. Maybe a little more sophisticated than when I was three, but something about her never changes. It’s the “me” I grew up with. Forever she will be me. She is my eternal soul.

But the eyes I try to avoid in the mirror are less familiar. They sit among wrinkles and creases, and sometimes, in a furtive glance, I almost recognize my mother. My arms, my hands are those of an old woman, and I focus hard on walking with dignity when I feel more like crawling.

More and more, I realize I am face-to-face with a body I find hard to recognize.

I have a dilemma. The eternal soul within me, the one that carries on all those conversations, is heavily affected these days by the old, mortal body in the mirror. The one who finds itself limping and whining through life.

This tattered tent keeps reminding my soul that we live in a fallen world.

My eternal soul thinks outside of time. She takes every day for granted, as if time has no limit. She is surprised by the changes in the world around her: how the kids have grown so old so fast; how the grandkids and great-grandkids have birthdays before the candle on their last cake has gone out; how time has stopped while everything else is changing.

She is becoming more and more aware that she was created for eternity.

Thankfully, this body and soul have another Companion. One who came at my invitation many years ago. At the invitation, I had little comprehension of what an incredible comfort this companion would be. He is the link between the time in which I live and the eternity to which I am going.

His companionship is with both my hopeful soul and my failing, fallen body.

For my body, He offers healing at times, but even when healing is not happening, He offers companionship to His beloved creation which is destined for better things to come.

For my eternal soul, He is constantly available: leading, teaching, encouraging, and filling her with hope.

We are old friends. As one entity- body, soul, and Spirit- we are easing toward eternity. As we travel, my heart is singing, “Each step I take just leads me closer home.”