Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow - What then?

Between Young and Old

Last night, I had this strange moment when I felt suspended between two generations. On my left was my father, on his 75th birthday, very ill with cancer, in a hospital bed in the living room of his home. On my right was one of my adopted sisters, age 17, reading a fashion magazine and texting a friend with constant tapping on her cell. I felt old and young at the same time! I remember 17, the eagerness to tackle life that was so much a part of me then. At 17, I thought that life would stretch on endlessly, with opportunities boundless and energy inexhaustible. It didn’t! Now, at age 53 I am close enough to ‘old’ to know the irritant of memory gaps and the limits of lesser physical endurance. Each year I grow less employable for I am on the cusp of growing irrelevance despite accumulated knowledge and expertise. What I know is less and less valuable to those who are a full generation (40 years) behind me for whom knowledge doubles every 7 years!

But, 53 isn’t all bad! I welcome the wisdom that I enjoy today. With maturity, comes the ability to weather the storms of life with steadiness. This is borne of experiencing God’s grace through the years as well as the realization that the sun will, in fact, come up tomorrow after going through quite a few ‘end of life’ moments that weren’t! I have lived long enough that I can cry without self-consciousness. I understand, with much more clarity, the difference between what is merely urgent and what demands my full attention. It’s a relief to have outlived the need to ‘succeed’ by building something bigger than what somebody else has built. My goal now is to successfully hand off the baton of faith and ministry to the next generation, to finish honorably and well for Christ’s sake, and to enjoy simple things like the spontaneity of child’s laughter and the colors of a sunrise!

I am not quite ready to ride off into the sunset to drive a school bus, play golf, or buy a condo in Florida! There are plenty of challenges yet to be met in my life – the Lord-willing. My prayer is that I will be much wiser in choosing the things to which I commit myself in the next 20 years. I pray that the experience of mortality and aging will remind me to lean more heavily on the Spirit, to listen more, and urge on those who are overtaking me on the road! What a tragedy it would be to become a grumpy old man who is a constant critic of all things novel and all persons younger than himself. Those tendencies reside in me (and most of us, I think.) God make me an encourager who is excited to participate in the adventure of life and faith even though it is more and more from the sidelines!

If you’re a 30-something or younger you probably have no clue what I am musing about!
If you’re 40-ish, you probably understand me a little, but hope I get over it!
If you’re my age or older, you probably are smiling and wondering what took me so long to get here!

Let me close with the words of another Preacher. May his inspired wisdom keep you steady in your pursuit of God and things eternal, no matter where you are on the road of life.

"Honor and enjoy your Creator while you’re still young, Before the years take their toll and your vigor wanes, Before your vision dims and the world blurs And the winter years keep you close to the fire." "The words of the wise prod us to live well. They’re like nails hammered home, holding life together. They are given by God, the one Shepherd. But regarding anything beyond this, dear friend, go easy. There’s no end to the publishing of books, and constant study wears you out so you’re no good for anything else.

The last and final word is this: Fear God. Do what he tells you. And that’s it. Eventually God will bring everything that we do out into the open and judge it according to its hidden intent, whether it’s good or evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:1-2, 11-17, The Message)