The idea of growing old never occurred to me until I became part of the silver haired generation.  It still doesn’t hold much interest.  In fact I’m trying to avoid it completely.  Age isn’t particularly where anyone in our society wants to be.  Youth is everything, right?

We’re fed with the notion that we can achieve higher cheekbones, supple skin, bodies that never sag.  We’re told  that once you get old your life is over.  NOT!  For one thing, you have earned the right to express your opinion and not really care if anyone listens to you or not.  You can do anything you want as long as you can pull your aching body out of bed.  Your mind is filled with so much information, but you often shut down or repeat the same things over and over.

Unfortunately, our society is so focused on youth that they have forgotten or dismissed old age.  It’s one of those things we don’t talk about much until we become old ourselves.

I am in my eighties and I don’t really consider myself old.  I still get out of bed at 6 AM.  I continue to work.  I put my make up on each morning, fix my hair and get dressed.  I can still tie my shoes, but it’s harder to reach them.  I have acquired a lot of knowledge over the years, but I often forget it.  I don’t look as good as I used to, but I can still see a sparkle in my eyes.  I love to listen to the rain falling on the roof but can’t always hear it.  My body sags, my face is wrinkled, my senses have become dull, but I don’t consider myself one of those old fogies I remember from my youth.  I know that God has a plan for me and someday, all you young whippersnappers are going to be walking in my shoes.

1 Timothy 5:1-2  “Do not rebuke an older man, but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity”

Every living human being has value in this world – from the very young to the very old.  Let’s never forget our place in the scheme of things.  Getting older is just bringing us that much closer to heaven.