Tooth Varnish

As I get older my gums recede from my teeth.  It happens.  I brush.  I got to the dentist for cleaning.  It happens anyway.  Now there is new stuff to put on my teeth that coat the gums and protect the roots of my teeth.  I guess that in time we need these extras.  Is it not the same with the soul?  My soul recedes over time no matter what I do.  I say morning and evening prayer.  I do some retreat days during the year.  But as life moves on I need more because I am working with less: energy, strength, memory, concentration, to name a few things that are diminishing in me.  We actually age spiritually.  We cannot rely on the same old formulas to carry us along.  Thomas Aquinas lived off of Theology and Philosophy for quite awhile.  Then he said, "Enough of this."  Never wrote another word.  Saints who die young from disease or a hard life, never get to this "aging of spiritual practice" place.  I find that as a approach 70 I need to keep asking the Holy Spirit to guide me, and Mother Mary to watch over me, as I try to open myself to God on a daily basis.  "Become like little children," Jesus said.  Open to the new.  So I have new stuff in my mouth today.  Try it...before your teeth fall out, or the ones you have left.