Inside looking Out

So many of the people that I interact with never leave their homes/care facilities.
They are living their lives, oftentimes by no choice of their own, in places that they never leave.
On a recent day that was sunny and bright, my heart was inordinately heavy as I left one high-rise
and realized that my friend had not been out in many weeks--and then, only for a doctor's visit.
Consider time.  How does time pass when you are inside looking out at the world?  Does time still pass slowly when you are aging and feel un-useful to the world outside? 

 What would you imagine yourself doing differently with your life, right now, if you knew that tomorrow--you would never be able to leave your home again--due to mobility, disease, etc.?
The wind in the trees of the 9th floor apartment was so subtle today when I returned to my friend.  I imagined that my friend had so much time on their hands they could actually count the leaves.  What would it feel like to you to sit and look out and really only have your memories to sustain and energize your soul?
My Aunt, who lived to be 97, always said her memories sustained her.  She outlived a husband, son, her best friends, her childhood friends--and despised being alone.  She hated out living everyone.  I guess as I think about her--it might be fair to say she wrestled with God's timing and her timing.

 What is the most important thing in the world to you?  What would happen if suddenly that most precious thing was gone? 

I've been leading a Bible Study on Abraham and Isaac--Genesis 22.  I've come to think about being obedient to God as something all together different than being dependent on God.  Abraham was obedient--yes.  But, the story speaks more boldly to me when I consider his dependence on God. 

Does God test us?  Does God test you?  That Old Testament story and culture sustained that viewpoint of God.  What's yours?