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Senior moments: Take a moment to ‘behold’ good things from God
Rich DeLong

“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2: 10-11 In the King James Version of the Bible, “behold” is used as the translation of the Hebrew word “hinneh” in the Old Testament and the Greek word “idou” in the New Testament.

No single word in English adequately conveys the shade of meaning these words communicate, which might be defined as “pay careful attention to what is to follow; it is very important.”

For that reason some of the modern-day English translations of the Bible, which tend to spurn much of the older or archaic phrasing in the King James Version in favor of more contemporary expression, retain the word “behold,” because the translators could not find a suitable substitute.

As important as this word is, particularly with regard to the birth of Jesus Christ, we rarely hear the word used in the course of everyday speaking. Maybe that’s because rarely do we speak of such amazing occurrences like the birth of our savior.

Oddly enough, God is steadily working in the lives of his people all over this world. Consider the 11-year-old Texas girl diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor who appears to have been cured, and doctors don’t have an explanation.

In June, doctors told Roxli Doss she had an inoperable brain tumor called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, or DIPG. The disease is “very rare” and causes a “decreased ability to swallow, sometimes vision loss, decreased ability to talk, eventually difficulty with breathing,” said Dr. Virginia Harrod with Dell Children’s Medical Center.

The little girl went through weeks of radiation and all her parents, Gena and Scott Doss, could do was pray for a miracle. And they got it.

And now with no trace of the tumor, the family is thanking God. “Every day we still say it,” said Gena. “It’s kind of our family thing that God healed Roxli.”

This would probably be a good spot to insert the word “behold” But what about our more common every-day experiences that we tend to take for granted? Things like arriving safely to work, or a safe landing of your flight?

More often than not we just move on with the rest of our day without giving any more thought to what just took place. Even childbirth, which in my opinion is one of the most amazing miracles we can experience, has become quite routine nowadays.

My niece just had her second baby a few weeks ago. I saw him for the first time on Christmas Day and truly it was a moment when I could hear God saying, “Behold.”

Every life is precious, and we should marvel with every breath we take. So live each day purposefully, and each minute and every second with the knowledge that God is always with us.

And “behold,” my friends.

Rich DeLong, formerly of Richmond Hill, is the executive director for The Villas & The Grand of Seagrass Village in Panama City Beach, Florida. Reach him at SeniorMomentsWithRich@gmail.com.

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