Magdi is getting old. Her red coat is turning white. She cannot hear as well as she used to and often sleeps through things that have Chloe up and running. Her gait is crooked and her joints stiff. Sometimes she loses strength in her hind legs and they simply fall out from under her. But pick up a tennis ball, bounce it once or twice, hold it out for her to see, and instantly the years melt away. Her ears prick, her posture straightens, and she crouches ready to run as soon as you throw it. Her eyes practically will you to throw it. When you do, she runs as if she doesn’t hurt at all, and will even jump into the air like old times to snatch it on the bounce. This dog loves nothing more than to chase a tennis ball, and would do it until she collapsed if we let her.
If you have never visited with an older Christian, you should. I am no longer surprised by their life stories. Most of these good people have lived far more exciting lives than I, and have been through suffering I hope to never experience. The wisdom in their words will stand you in good stead if you pay attention.
Their knowledge of the scriptures is like that tennis ball to Magdi. They may sit and talk quietly, or hardly talk at all, but then you mention the Bible and it isn’t just a light that shines in their eyes, it’s a fire that starts burning and gets brighter as they continue. They seem to tap into a hidden energy source, sit up straighter and lean forward with an intent look that will burn itself into your heart, along with the accumulated knowledge and experience they want so badly to impart. It is their legacy, and too often we don’t claim it because old people are “boring”--visiting with them is simply a duty we fulfill as seldom as possible. Besides, who can count on their minds to be clear anyway—nothing useful can come from them. So our society trains us, and so we continue to make the foolish mistakes of the naïve when the help is there for the taking.
We have another problem in our society—the desire for instant gratification. Wisdom comes from accumulated experiences and from taking in the word of God—the source of all wisdom—on a regular basis year after year after year. The reason those older folks have a fire burning in their hearts is because they feed it daily. We are too immature to stick it out. We want it now—read a few chapters and become a sage overnight, or at least within a month or two, we seem to think. If we are not careful, when it comes our turn to be the old wise heads, we will have no fuel to burn, no warmth and glow to pass on to the next generation.
So today’s thought is two fold. Go visit some older folks. Sit and listen and take in what they have to offer. Then go home and get yourself ready to be that older generation. It takes more smarts, more strength, and more diligence than you think.
God, you have taught me from my youth; and I still declare your wondrous works. Yea, even when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not, until I have declared your strength unto the next generation, your might to every one that is to come. Psalm 71:17,18.
Dene Ward
If you have never visited with an older Christian, you should. I am no longer surprised by their life stories. Most of these good people have lived far more exciting lives than I, and have been through suffering I hope to never experience. The wisdom in their words will stand you in good stead if you pay attention.
Their knowledge of the scriptures is like that tennis ball to Magdi. They may sit and talk quietly, or hardly talk at all, but then you mention the Bible and it isn’t just a light that shines in their eyes, it’s a fire that starts burning and gets brighter as they continue. They seem to tap into a hidden energy source, sit up straighter and lean forward with an intent look that will burn itself into your heart, along with the accumulated knowledge and experience they want so badly to impart. It is their legacy, and too often we don’t claim it because old people are “boring”--visiting with them is simply a duty we fulfill as seldom as possible. Besides, who can count on their minds to be clear anyway—nothing useful can come from them. So our society trains us, and so we continue to make the foolish mistakes of the naïve when the help is there for the taking.
We have another problem in our society—the desire for instant gratification. Wisdom comes from accumulated experiences and from taking in the word of God—the source of all wisdom—on a regular basis year after year after year. The reason those older folks have a fire burning in their hearts is because they feed it daily. We are too immature to stick it out. We want it now—read a few chapters and become a sage overnight, or at least within a month or two, we seem to think. If we are not careful, when it comes our turn to be the old wise heads, we will have no fuel to burn, no warmth and glow to pass on to the next generation.
So today’s thought is two fold. Go visit some older folks. Sit and listen and take in what they have to offer. Then go home and get yourself ready to be that older generation. It takes more smarts, more strength, and more diligence than you think.
God, you have taught me from my youth; and I still declare your wondrous works. Yea, even when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not, until I have declared your strength unto the next generation, your might to every one that is to come. Psalm 71:17,18.
Dene Ward
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