Grandma's Home
"Show your fear of God by standing up in the presence of elderly people and showing respect for the aged. I am the LORD." Lev.19:32
Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind. C. S. Lewis
Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. ~Samuel Ullman
Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been. ~Mark Twain
Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind. C. S. Lewis
Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. ~Samuel Ullman
Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been. ~Mark Twain
GRANDMA'S HOME
Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained by living a godly life. Proverbs 16:31
People fuss at me when I say I'm old. They bow up like aggravated school teachers ready to slap me with a ruler for the offense. But I know it's just an act, like telling a fat person they're not fat, it's just an effort to make me feel better.
Yet there is some debate as to just when a person should be considered old. They say sixty is the new forty and you see folks sixty or older jumping out of airplanes and straddling Harleys as they glide down the highway. We boomers are a ruckus bunch with more bluster than our parents who are called the greatest generation, but with a lot less virtue.
Yet unfortunately old age comes early for some folks, I have seen people in their thirties and younger with broken, crippled bodies bent down in body and spirit, Without hope, trapped in wheelchairs and hospital beds. So I can only conclude that old age is a personal thing. Old age comes whenever your body and your spirit are spent, that time comes at differently for everyone. But it does come, the only way to avoid it is to just quit, or "check out" early and call it a day. To choose to do this is the cowards' way out. Though I have known misery, I have never been brave enough to play God.
All my life books have been among my best friends, I hate to leave a book unfinished, I want to see how the story ends. Notice how the story builds and builds as you read till at last the climax takes on paramount importance. You know you've invested so much time in the story that it will be a complete waste if you don't see it through to the end. Sometimes there is a surprise finish that leaves you in tears or perhaps a twist in the end that makes you smile. Either way it's all about how the story ends. So it is with our lives.
The question "what do women want?" is thrown around a lot, but the answer to that one is easy, women want security. But there is another question that you will be hearing about more as we boomers age.
They won't be asking if we want security, be assured. Everyone wants security, women want security because they are the weaker sex and need to know their children will be taken care of. Men want security because the gauge of true manhood is his ability to take care of his family. But to old people security is not the primary thing. We no longer have anyone depending on us, the game is largely finished and the final inning is just wrapping up. Then what do old people want? Old people want to know that they played the game well, that their lives had meaning and purpose. Old people also want to be respected. Esteem is not the issue. Esteem is different than respect, respect is earned and not everyone who is esteemed deserves it. We want to be respected as intelligent, viable adults. Don't talk down to me, I am as smart as you are and please don't call me "Honey".
Old age sneaks up on you like a cougar after a hapless deer. You are busy with life's endeavors, building, planning, hoping, and dreaming. Then suddenly old age attacks and brings you down. Old age is not a puppy licking at your heels as he follows you home. It is a mountain lion laying in wait to pounce.
I remember when I was young waking up in an unfamiliar place and for a moment not knowing where I was, such is old age. One doesn't know "how" to be old, one does not learn it, it is just something that happens when you are not looking. You wake up one day and look in the mirror only to fail to recognize the old codger staring back at you in the glass.
I am not ashamed or distressed about growing older, I feel more like I felt at work when "quitting time" drew near, I am tired and a sense little relieved that it's almost time to go home. Maybe that's because I don't believe the soul ages like the mind and body does, it just becomes trapped inside a broken down body and a dim foggy mind. That is why so many elderly are depressed and unhappy. When the heart of a fifteen year old is trapped in an aging body it is hard to keep a jovial attitude. We often have issues, like when sleep hides from us, and unhappy thoughts and fears creep in. Regret is the most restless bedfellow a person can have.
Yet there is a certain satisfaction in the things you know you did right. Or at least in the knowledge that you did the best you could with what you had to work with, The Bible says something about somebody rising up and calling us blessed. You might have to wait a while for that, the more you love and the more available you are the less other people will see value in what you do. There was time I thought love was enough but apparently that is no longer true. Wisdom must be added to the mix somehow.
Is life an adventure? Yes. Would I do it all again? Yes. Would I change some things? Yes. But I know more now than I did when I began. Is God faithful? Yes, but He's no pushover, if you are going to make it through this journey you are going to have to put up a whale of a fight. Winning is possible but there are no free lunches or free rides.
People fuss at me when I say I'm old. They bow up like aggravated school teachers ready to slap me with a ruler for the offense. But I know it's just an act, like telling a fat person they're not fat, it's just an effort to make me feel better.
Yet there is some debate as to just when a person should be considered old. They say sixty is the new forty and you see folks sixty or older jumping out of airplanes and straddling Harleys as they glide down the highway. We boomers are a ruckus bunch with more bluster than our parents who are called the greatest generation, but with a lot less virtue.
Yet unfortunately old age comes early for some folks, I have seen people in their thirties and younger with broken, crippled bodies bent down in body and spirit, Without hope, trapped in wheelchairs and hospital beds. So I can only conclude that old age is a personal thing. Old age comes whenever your body and your spirit are spent, that time comes at differently for everyone. But it does come, the only way to avoid it is to just quit, or "check out" early and call it a day. To choose to do this is the cowards' way out. Though I have known misery, I have never been brave enough to play God.
All my life books have been among my best friends, I hate to leave a book unfinished, I want to see how the story ends. Notice how the story builds and builds as you read till at last the climax takes on paramount importance. You know you've invested so much time in the story that it will be a complete waste if you don't see it through to the end. Sometimes there is a surprise finish that leaves you in tears or perhaps a twist in the end that makes you smile. Either way it's all about how the story ends. So it is with our lives.
The question "what do women want?" is thrown around a lot, but the answer to that one is easy, women want security. But there is another question that you will be hearing about more as we boomers age.
They won't be asking if we want security, be assured. Everyone wants security, women want security because they are the weaker sex and need to know their children will be taken care of. Men want security because the gauge of true manhood is his ability to take care of his family. But to old people security is not the primary thing. We no longer have anyone depending on us, the game is largely finished and the final inning is just wrapping up. Then what do old people want? Old people want to know that they played the game well, that their lives had meaning and purpose. Old people also want to be respected. Esteem is not the issue. Esteem is different than respect, respect is earned and not everyone who is esteemed deserves it. We want to be respected as intelligent, viable adults. Don't talk down to me, I am as smart as you are and please don't call me "Honey".
Old age sneaks up on you like a cougar after a hapless deer. You are busy with life's endeavors, building, planning, hoping, and dreaming. Then suddenly old age attacks and brings you down. Old age is not a puppy licking at your heels as he follows you home. It is a mountain lion laying in wait to pounce.
I remember when I was young waking up in an unfamiliar place and for a moment not knowing where I was, such is old age. One doesn't know "how" to be old, one does not learn it, it is just something that happens when you are not looking. You wake up one day and look in the mirror only to fail to recognize the old codger staring back at you in the glass.
I am not ashamed or distressed about growing older, I feel more like I felt at work when "quitting time" drew near, I am tired and a sense little relieved that it's almost time to go home. Maybe that's because I don't believe the soul ages like the mind and body does, it just becomes trapped inside a broken down body and a dim foggy mind. That is why so many elderly are depressed and unhappy. When the heart of a fifteen year old is trapped in an aging body it is hard to keep a jovial attitude. We often have issues, like when sleep hides from us, and unhappy thoughts and fears creep in. Regret is the most restless bedfellow a person can have.
Yet there is a certain satisfaction in the things you know you did right. Or at least in the knowledge that you did the best you could with what you had to work with, The Bible says something about somebody rising up and calling us blessed. You might have to wait a while for that, the more you love and the more available you are the less other people will see value in what you do. There was time I thought love was enough but apparently that is no longer true. Wisdom must be added to the mix somehow.
Is life an adventure? Yes. Would I do it all again? Yes. Would I change some things? Yes. But I know more now than I did when I began. Is God faithful? Yes, but He's no pushover, if you are going to make it through this journey you are going to have to put up a whale of a fight. Winning is possible but there are no free lunches or free rides.
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Crossing the Bar-Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Sunset and evening star, and one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar, When I put out to sea,
But such a tide as moving seems asleep, Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep Turns again home.
Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell, When I embark;
For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place. The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face. When I have cross the bar.