On the occasion of my fiftieth birthday, I took a cue from Andy Rooney, famous writer, humorist, and commentator on the CBS television program, 60 Minutes. As he did on his sixtieth birthday, I sat down to write fifty things I had learned during my fifty years on the planet. Dusting them off recently, I decided they contained truths worth sharing with you. The original source for a statement is noted when known; some are simply attributed to the proverbial “Unknown”. The rest are my own musings – unless, of course, they’re not.

1. Each sunset is a unique painting in the sky by the finger of God.
2. Gazing at the stars on a clear warm night is a palpable reminder of our diminutive presence in the vastness of the universe.
3. The sounds, sights, and smells of the ocean’s waves upon the shore are the best therapy for stress, anxiety, and tension.
4. The four seasons are nature’s message to us that time steadily advances without our permission and despite our protests.
5. Whenever I feel inadequate to a task, I recall the words of St. Bernard of Clairvaux: “nothing is lacking where everything is given.”
6. Every “yes” to something is a “no” to something else. (Unknown)
7. God’s presence is more precious than His protection (Jill Briscoe)
8. God doesn’t put Himself between us and suffering so that nothing can come between us and Him. (Joni Eareckson Tada)
9. You are blessed if you marry the one you love, but even more blessed if you love the one you marry. (G.K. Chesterton)
10. Learning from those who have gone before us is like standing on the shoulders of giants (C.S. Lewis)
11. Our memory in middle age is an obstacle to hope, because we recall our lifetime of sins and infidelities all too well. (Mother Immaculata)
12. It is of immeasurable help in difficult situations to stop and say, “God is right here, right now.”
13. Life on earth is only the title page of our life story. ( C.S. Lewis)
14. When we ask God “Why?”, He doesn’t give us answers; He gives us Himself. (Unknown)
15. Being in right relationship is more important than being right.
16. Marriage is one of the best places to follow Jesus’ instruction to forgive seventy times seven; and one of the hardest.
17. When I was in my twenties, I was embarrassed to look back and see what I thought I knew in my teens.
18. It’s better to walk with Jesus in darkness, than to walk on your own in the light. (Wayne Watson)
19. Karl Marx famously said that religion is the opiate of the people. If he were alive today, he may have singled out media as the drug of choice.
20. True poverty is within a person; you can be poor by not having enough as well as by having too much. (Unknown)
21. When I was in my thirties, I was embarrassed to look back and see what I thought I knew in my twenties.
22. It is important to remember prosperity in times of adversity and to remember adversity in times of prosperity. (Book of Sirach)
23. We don’t choose our parents, our brothers and sisters, or our children; but we do choose our spouse and our friends.
24. A key to contentment is learning to want what you have.
25. When I was in my forties, I was embarrassed to look back and see what I thought I knew in my thirties.
26. You don’t know what “pitch darkness” is until you’ve been in an underground cave without a flashlight (special thanks to my sons).
27. We can never repay God for all that He has given us, but we can thank Him from our hearts every day of our lives.
28. True knowledge is to acknowledge the Truth; not to create your own. (Unknown)
29. Leaving a spouse for someone else is not a matter of love for one being too strong to resist, but rather love for the other being too weak to matter.
30. Eight hours of sleep as a norm was dreamed up by some researcher while he was sleeping.
31. If we only ate when we were hungry and stopped when we were satisfied, we would be more healthy.
32. Having a dog that is loyal only to you is great for the ego.
33. Looking out the window of an airplane at 30,000 feet never loses its magic.
34. Professional sports have become nothing more than getting rich people to pay to watch rich people play.
35. Muting television commercials is a proven way to reduce stress.
36. There is no such thing as owning land; we just give someone money to use it for a while until we move or die.
37. Fast food is rarely fast and barely food.
38. Getting an education is a process that occurs almost exclusively outside the classroom.
39. The quality of one’s education is more a matter of who is teaching than what is being taught.
40. Teachers and employers subconsciously give better grades and better jobs to people who are good looking and well dressed.
41. The best things in life really are free: riding a bike, swimming, reading a book, a cold glass of water on a hot day, a hot crackling fire on a cold night.
42. When people retire, they say they are busier than when they had a job.
43. A family vacation is an oxymoron.
44. Correct English grammar ain’t practiced much no more.
45. Hearty laughter brings healing to the body and soul.
46. No matter how beautiful a song may be, if you hear it every day, its beauty fades and finally vanishes.
47. When you bury your feelings, you bury them alive.
48. By the time sons and daughters graduate from college, they need a father/mother and a friend – not a parent.
49. Peace is not the absence of war, but being in a right relationship with God and others.
50. Life can only be understood looking backwards, but it must be lived looking forward. (Soren Kierkegaard)