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Originally for one new friend then sent again other dear friends on their birthdays:

Rock Age, 07JAN

There are only a few fossils for the abundance of life that existed – and only a few that have made their mark as distinct as these – perhaps the marks we make in life are not going to be permanent etched in stone like these fossils -but they are marks indeed – on the people around us.

When you feel your age – when you are feeling old, remember that you are not old – you are young. The fossils and the rocks are much older than you – an unimaginable number of years old – millions if not billions. You are young in the universe.

If God’s church was made out of a rock of people – an imperfect set of people, then this rock can remind us of how far we have personally come – how hard we are working on our imperfections – how God’s greatest joy is when the prodigal sons and daughters come home – and how far we still have to go. Blessedly, much more time lies ahead of us than was behind us.

From Amazing Grace: “When we’ve been there ten thousand years, Bright shining as the sun, We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise Than when we’d first begun.”