MJ and I are sitting on the Writing Porch and it is a cool morning. Sixty-Five has dawned…and it feels much like 64. I smile when I hear others say that you are only as old as you feel… However, the Holiday Season has begun for me. From now until the end of the year will whisk by like a weaver’s shuttle. Pastor Kerry preached an excellent insightful sermon yesterday. He discussed how we are a mixture of good and bad. We all have a little Pharisee in us… I could visualize myself in almost every sentence that he uttered. The cartoon with the devil sitting on one of our shoulders and an angel sitting on the other…is perfect to describe our human condition.

I take some satisfaction in being who I am…my authentic self…not a facsimile. As I have aged I have become increasingly comfortable in my skin. I am happy when others like what they encounter and when they do not…I am not troubled…they are meeting the real Jay Brooks.

Faith is an important part of life. I have learned to wear it like a comfortable and favorite garment. The vastness of God and his love for the human family is unfathomable. He does not pursue the petty divisive differences between men and women. God sees the Big Picture…he is a Big Picture kind of Guy. When I see other members of my human family…I am seeing part of God…

Facebook has birthday wishes for me…rolling in. This has become a nice element of my Birthday. Words create mental art. The Bible tells us that a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. A few sentences from someone’s heart create a feeling of love and acceptance and hope in the person that they are being said or written.

Autumn is my season. I have been spending a couple of hours per day at Giant City State Park admiring the leaves and the cooler temperatures. I can go to the same spot and see something different each day. I am not a frenetic person but nature has a calming effect on me. It causes me to focus on renewing my sense of place. I see my role in life more clearly when I am in the midst of the brightly colored and falling leaves.

My first Pastor was fond of saying that a person must stay on track…Old 65 is still on track and searching for a new adventure…