Not long ago I was having lunch with a friend of mine, and he looked at me and said: “You and I are becoming old men.” (Isn’t it great to have friends who will encourage you like that?) I quickly pointed out to him that he was five years older than me, and therefore way ahead of me on the downhill side of life. But, after reflection, I had to admit he was right. Not only was he getting older, he was dragging me along right behind him!
My mother used to tell me that she didn’t mind getting older, except that the parts wore out. I’m beginning to understand what she meant. I’m not really depressed about being the age I am, just surprised (as in: “Wow, I’m here already?”).
My Dad just turned 80 years old last November. That seems unreal, to me and him, both. My Dad still does 50 dips a day (where you support yourself with your hands, on the backs of chairs or the corner of a countertop, and lower and raise yourself…kind of like an upright push-up). He tells me, “On days when I’m tired, I can only do 40.” (I don’t think I can do 10!) He said if he doesn’t do them, his neck and back get stiff.
I bought myself a recumbent exercise bike after Christmas. (A recumbent bike is one where you sit back, like in a recliner…now that’s my kind of exercise bike!) I got this, not in a desperate attempt to hang on to fading youth (Too late! There it went!), but rather to make a good faith effort to have a reasonably active and healthy “Autumn of Life”. In other words, I’m exercising to try to keep up with my grandson!
The truth is, I have always liked older people. I had a wonderful relationship with my grandparents, calling their house my “second home” when I was growing up. And I often went with them when they went out to eat with their friends after church. I never really thought of them as “old”. They were just people I liked, who happened to be my grandparent’s friends. I liked being with them, and I liked listening to their conversations. (I especially liked it when they bought me stuff!)
When I first came to First Baptist in Linton, I saw so many people that made me think, “My grandparents would’ve liked them! These people would have been my grandparents’ friends, if they had known them.” I am grateful for the fact that both of my grandparents made it down to attend one of our morning services, to hear me preach. It meant a lot to me, and to them. So some of you got to meet Preston and Edith Tyra and shake their hands. That meant a lot to me.
So here we are, all getting older. The longer I hang around you people, the older I get! (I’m blaming it on you.) Is there anything good about getting older? Once at a mid-week service, I taught a lesson based on George Sweeting’s book, The Joys of Successful Aging. I started out by asking what I thought was a rhetorical question: “So what’s good about getting older?” And to my surprise, one of you blurted out, “Nothing!” And we all laughed.
Sweeting, formerly President of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, wrote a great book full of practical, Biblical advice on the subject. Recently, Billy Graham (who is now 93) wrote a book called Nearing Home: Life, Faith, and Finishing Well. That’s on my “To Read” list for this year. I figure guys like that are worth listening to on the subject of aging.
Last summer, in response to something I said, my daughter looked at me with some consternation and told me, “Daddy! You’re not old yet!” (I love that girl!) No, I’m not ready for my rocking chair just yet. But I’m older than I’ve ever been, and increasingly I have the desire to finish well. And it’s always good to look at the map to see what lies ahead, or to listen to the advice of someone who’s already where you’re heading.
I have observed that old age takes its own special kind of courage. Comedian Tim Conway used to dress like an old man and shuffle along furiously, moving only inches as he did so. It was really funny when he did it, but I have come to appreciate the bold courage that it takes for someone to go out in public and keep walking like that… knowing that others will be frustrated when they get behind them, mouthy teenagers will make fun of them, and the effort they make will leave them exhausted for the rest of the day. Teenagers shouting obscenities on a street corner, or behaving rudely in restaurants… that’s not courage. A little old man or woman continuing to force their aging body to do their will, in spite of pain and weakness…now that’s courage!
Here’s some good news: King David wrote, “I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.” (Psalm 37:25) The Psalmist prayed, “Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent.” (Psalm 71:9) The answer to that prayer is found in Psalm 92:14,15 -“They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the LORD is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”
Honestly, some of the most vibrant and alive people I know are in their eighties and nineties. O Lord: make me like them! (And let me live long enough to really tick off the people I annoy!) Amen!
Pax on your Nabisco!
Pastor David