The Big 50

 Today is my 50th birthday.  I am strangely excited about this milestone.  I had always thought that I would dread turning 50, but something has shifted.  Recently, the idea of turning 50 has turned into the possibility of being open to new experiences with a deeper perspective than I had before.  It has come from the idea that as we age, we let go of the unimportant things in life.  In the letting go, we are able to find our true selves. 

The other day, I had a conversation with a friend about my excitement.  My friend pointed out that the Gospel for Sunday was about the marriage feast in Cana.  Jesus's first miracle was to change water into wine at the gentle but persuasive urging of his mother.  The wine that Jesus provided was so good that it prompted the head waiter to remark to the bridegroom that he had "kept the good wine until now."  John 2:1-11.  My friend drew the comparison that what lays ahead is perhaps the "good wine" kept for last.  I have not been able to stop thinking about this analogy and the possibility it carries.  Is this new wine an openness to new experiences, a shedding of thinking patterns that are no longer productive or useful?  I do not know.  What I do know is that the "good wine" of my life cannot be made by me.  Like the beautiful Gospel story of the marriage of Cana, the good wine can only be created by Jesus.  I think that maybe the best part about turning 50 is that I am finally realizing that I simply need to keep out of His way and cooperate with the wonderful plans that He has for me.

So, it is in the last few days that I decided to start a blog on my 50th birthday.  I have long thought about writing a blog, but have made one excuse after the other.  Would I have time? Who would want to read it anyway?, and so on and so forth.  But, I realized that I like to write and I like to be creative. This blog is the start of a new creative adventure and I hope a real spiritual journey.  I will write about my knitting, spinning, photography, and maybe I will be brave enough to share my poems.  I will write about the journey through autism with my son.  It is from this journey that I derive the title of the blog.  A post about this will follow soon.  I also started a 365 days of life project, which I read about on another blog.  You take one or more pictures for an entire year, and I started a few days ago.  I plan on sharing my photos here.  I know that I am  planning a lot of things and I don't know what will develop.  But, the important thing that I wanted to do today is start.  Start this blog and most of all, start cooperating with Jesus as He works in my life.