Day 296
Friday, June 23, 2023

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Scripture
So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. —Second Corinthians 4:16

Wisdom
Late in life, my sparkling mother taught me by example how to keep going despite aging. In her eighties she still vigorously practiced the piano, even though she suffered from arthritic pain. I remember watching her work on a piece by Franz Schubert, one of her favorite composers, and struggle to find a comfortable fingering.

 “Damn,” she said. “Maybe this will work—ooh, that’s better!”

 Her hands were redder and more swollen than usual.

 “Ma, doesn’t it hurt when you play?” I asked.

 She stopped and looked at me over the rhinestone glasses she wore.

 “What, you think it doesn’t hurt if I don’t play?” she said.

 She started up again, Schubert flowing from her twisted fingers, music filling the house.

—Lyra Halprin Davis, California, “Sun Magazine”, January 1978

Prayer
May I find my creative center, my joy made complete, even amid the sorrows and pains that accompany me. Amen. —The Reverend Dr. Katie Snipes Lancaster