This is a poem a german missionary of Catholic, Hermann Heuvers, has introduced in his autobio. Heuvers has stayed in our country as a teacher at a university pastoring a church from 1920s through 1960s. When he once returned to homeland, a friend of his gave this impressive poem to him. In 1977, while he served Mass on wheel chair, he developed acute heart attack which lead to death.
It sure leaves a lasting impression on me. I was going to put this into the previous post titled "The beginning of real retirement". I was too shy or even scared to compare our lives to this way of in devout belief.
It is still an excellent wisdom of life in old age. I would share it to you here, not in relation to the previous post. I still would spend or try to live the retirement ahead with the motto this poem depicts. This translation comes from a site by Nobuko Muth.
Quote~~~
What is this life's most important task?
To grow old with a cheerful heart,
To be still even when I would like to be active,
To be silent when I would like to talk,
To have hope in times of frustration,
To carry my cross in humility and serenity of heart,
To put aside envy even when I see younger people walking God's path full of health and energy,
To humbly accept help from others when I would rather work for the sake of others,
So when I can no longer be useful for others because of frailty I need to gently and humbly accept the heavy burden of old age as a gift from God.
I have an aged heart that has been in use a long time and now God is giving it a final polishing so that I can return to my true home all shining.
To gradually release myself from the chains that bind me to this world is indeed a wonderful work.
When I cannot do things let me humbly accept these circumstances in humility.
However for my closing years God has kept for me the most important work of all, and that is:
~~~End of quote
This translation is ended abruptly leaving a few more sentences untranslated. I dare finish it in my way as follows;
My hands could do little to the others
Only I could do until the end of my life is to join my hands in prayer
Praying for God's mercy over to all the people I love
When I have done all I could do, I may hear God telling me in dying bed,
"Come here, thou, you will never be abandoned."
~~~
I have learned about this poem from my sister 4 years elder than me several years ago. As I and the folks are getting older, this beautiful verse hauntingly comes up in my mind. My sister and borther in addition to my wife and myself are stepping into the elderhood. May all of us spend the last chapter of our lives as this poem indicates.
