GROWING OLD WITH ENTHUSIASM
by Mike Robinson
"You know you are getting old when you sink your teeth into an apple...and they stay there!" The fact is that every person on planet earth - without exception - is participating in the biological and irreversible process of ageing. However, there are marked differences in how people respond to that reality.
A young person told me recently, "The thing I most fear is not nuclear war or unemployment or poor health. I am terrified of growing old". I am sure that part of her fear is related to the fact that our culture exalts youthfulness as the ultimate reality (watch the TV advertisements) while backaches and bifocals are symbols of uselessness and redundancy.
Someone has said, "Convince a man that he is no longer needed and he will be dead within a year!" While that may be overstating the case somewhat, there is enough truth in it to make us face some harsh realities about our attitudes to the aged in our society.
What can we learn from all this?
First, we cannot over-emphasise the place of the family and the vital need for strong relationships across the generations. We have yet to realise the incredible, immeasurable damage that is being done by the breakdown of the family across our nation. The elderly will be among the greatest suffers in that disaster.
Second, the ageing process stubbornly underlines the temporary nature of our life on this planet, Young people think they are blessed with perpetual youth. Older folk know better! A full life now and preparation for life beyond death both become more important as our life here moves to a close.
Third, the promise of eternal life that physical death cannot damage or destroy gives a positive dynamic to those senior years when the person is trusting in the grace and God. Age brings physical limitations but when that person is walking with God, there is a freedom in them that is a delight to behold.