| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “Steadfast and immovable” Our Bible verse for today: “Here I am today, eighty-five years old. I am still as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me out. My strength for battle and for daily tasks is now as it was then.” Joshua 14:10-11 (CSB) Our thought for today: “Growing older but not old” A few weeks ago, I ran into a friend who I hadn’t seen in a long time. He is ninety-three but looks and acts like a healthy and vibrant seventy-three. He is healthy and physically fit and very active. A few years ago, at the age of ninety, he got married to a woman who is probably ten or more years younger than him and who is also healthy and fit. They’ve been acting like newlyweds on an extended honeymoon ever since. They’ve been on a trip to Israel, and on a Caribbean cruise, and this summer they’re going on an extended tour of northern Europe. My friend looked at me with a grin on his face and a twinkle in his eye and he said, “Jim, I spent my whole life earning all this money, now I’m going to have a lot of fun spending it before I die.” Right on, brother! Three cheers for old folks who are young at heart! In his book, “No Wrinkles on the Soul: A Book of Readings for Older Adults”, Richard Morgan explains that all of us are actually three different ages at the same time. First, there is our chronological age, which is measured by years on the calendar. Then there is our biological age, which is a factor of our overall health and fitness. And then there is our psychological age, which is a measure of how old a person feels and acts. Our chronological age is fixed and there’s nothing we can do about that. Obviously, there are things we can do to impact our biological age; but it’s our psychological age that we have the most control over. That’s a matter of attitude and perspective. It’s the understanding that you may be getting older but you don’t have to get old. You don’t have to retire to a rocking chair and long naps. You don’t have to think of yourself as infirm and incapable. You can work to stay as healthy as you can for as long as you can, and you can make it a point to stay as active as your circumstances allow for as long as you can. Some people age faster biologically precisely because they think and act old psychologically. There’s something winsome and appealing and fun about a newlywed ninety-three-year-old with a grin on his face, a twinkle in his eye, on an extended honeymoon, and thoroughly enjoying life. The artist Pablo Picasso once quipped, “It takes a long time to become young.” – meaning that older people who have learned to relax, enjoy life, and live each day to the fullest, are younger at heart than many people half their age. You may be getting older but you don’t have to grow old. I encourage you to embrace life with joy and eager expectation, and then live each day to the fullest. God bless, Pastor Jim |
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