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Image Link: https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.52453.html
Reflection: “Old Age” is the last painting in “The Voyage of Life” series. In “Youth” and “Manhood,” we see glimpses of our future and “the great Ocean of Eternity,” as Cole calls it. In “Old Age,” the boat is battered from the voyage and the hourglass is gone because they are no longer needed. Reaching the end of his life, the voyager prepares for his ultimate destination. He is aware of God’s presence and sees Heaven ready to welcome him home.
At the end of a voyage, we often reflect on where we have been, what we have seen, who we have met, and what we have learned. In my own voyage of life, the river is God’s love in my life. Sometimes it is slow and steady; sometimes it is fast and scary, but it always surrounds me, protects me, and moves me forward. What l love about this text and this image is that each day I am introduced to newer heights and depths of God’s love. The river flows into a vast ocean that covers everything in sight ahead of me. My experiences up to this moment have been only glimpses of His great love. But God’s love is even greater; this vast ocean is not the end of my journey. I will leave behind the boat, the river, the ocean, and the world as I have known it and experience God and His love directly and infinitely
Where is God’s love seeking to move you forward?
Will you allow God closer to show you the vastness and power of His love?
Paul reminds us that nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. As you try to discern where God’s love is leading you during life’s challenges, be thankful that God’s love seeks to move you forward. Be open to the realization that God’s love and power are likely greater that your experiences have revealed. Let your comprehension of the vastness of God’s love grow as you live out your faith.
Closing Prayer: Dear Lord, Thank you for surrounding me with Your love and moving me forward. Help me to see where You have loved me in the past as well as in this moment. Help me to allow Your love to remove the things in my life that separate me from You. Show me that Your love has no limits and is all around me in ways I have never imagined. Amen
Image: Title: The Voyage of Life: Old Age
Artist: Thomas Cole
Dated: 1842
Image Use: Open Access
Link: https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.52453.html
Credit for image: Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
Here is the artist’s description of the painting for additional context:
“Portentous clouds are brooding over a vast and midnight Ocean. A few barren rocks are seen through the gloom— the last shores of the world. These form the mouth of the river, and the boat, shattered by storms, its figures of the hours broken and drooping, is seen gliding over deep waters. Directed by the Guardian Spirit, who thus far has accompanied him unseen, the voyager, now an old man, looks upward to an opening in the clouds, from whence a glorious light bursts forth, and angels are seen descending the cloudy steps, as if to welcome him to the Haven of Immortal Life. The stream has now reached the Ocean, to which all life is tending. The world, to Old Age, is destitute of interest. There is no longer any green thing upon it. The broken and drooping figures of the boat show that Time is nearly ended. The chains of corporeal existence are falling away; and already the mind has glimpses of Immortal Life. The angelic Being, of whose presence until now the voyager has been unconscious, is revealed to him, and with a countenance beaming with joy, shows to his wondering gaze scenes such as the eye of mortal man has never yet seen.”
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