The
older I get, the more I value the experience of age and the wisdom that can
result. The way I see it, if I have to
deal with all the physical aches and pains (and trust me, they’re there) I have
to have something to hold on to favorably with getting older.
I
remember in my younger years, always being told to “respect your elders” and
doing it … well, because I was told to.
But our society in general doesn’t hold to such an outlook. Most of who we think are the “relevant” and
“important” people in our culture today are young folks. Think of the celebrities we follow, or
revere. Generally they’re people who
haven’t hit age 30 yet. And those that
have spend thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of dollars trying to look
young. These young celebrities offer
their input on a wide variety of issues, from politics to what it takes to live
a fulfilling life. All from folks who
perhaps haven’t even logged enough years to gather a lick of experience, let
alone context. Yet, they’re certainly
listened to, maybe even by some of us.
This
week my reflection comes in a bit of a roundabout way. I was first really moved as I read through Job
22 – 28, Psalms 59 – 65, and 2 Chronicles 29 – 35, about how God values wisdom
in His people. Specifically, in Job
28:23-28 Job shares his heart (from God) about the importance of wisdom …
“God alone understands the
way to wisdom; he knows where it can be found, for he looks throughout
the whole earth
and sees everything under the heavens. He decided how hard the winds should
blow
and how much rain should fall. He
made the laws for the rain
and laid out a path for the lightning. Then he saw wisdom and evaluated it. He set it in place and examined it
thoroughly. And this is what he
says to all humanity:
‘The fear of the Lord is true wisdom;
to forsake evil is
real understanding.’”
It’s
clear that God desires us to seek understanding and wisdom … the understanding
and wisdom that can only come from Him.
But something else hit me as I was finishing my current extra-Biblical
reading through Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing
and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10.
“I learned right then from
the intel guys that the gentleman I referred to was the headman of all the
three villages we had observed. He was a
man hugely revered in the Hindu Kush, because this is a culture that does not
worship youth and cheap television celebrity.
Those tribesmen treasure, above all things, knowledge, experience, and
wisdom.
This excerpt comes from a point
in the book (I’ll try not to tell you too much about it … but you should
DEFINITELY read the book; be forewarned that the language can be a little
graphic at times) when the subject, Marcus, is reflecting on the help he
received from Afghan tribesmen. Moreover,
he was marveling at how both the tribesmen and the Taliban and Al Qaeda (both
of whom were looking to find and kill Marcus) were kept at bay by their
cultural deference to the tribal elder / leader.
These might seem to be
relatively discordant thought processes to try to bring together. But what moved me about this was how we as an
American culture overlook the importance of wisdom that comes from experience
and age. We overvalue the youth and
notoriety of today’s “celebrities” and “talent” and neglect the generations who
actually experienced life in all its fullness.
Think about how the elderly
are treated today. All too often they’re
relegated to a background role of importance, tucked away where they can’t get
in the way, where their slower-moving speed can not impede our fast-paced,
instant-gratification-seeking world.
But think about the
understanding and wisdom that any one of these older folks possess. Just having gone through an lifetime that
might contain reflections of living through World War II, the Vietnam War, the
Cold War, the assassination of President Kennedy, watching Neil Armstrong walk
on the moon LIVE, the advent of inventions and technologies we take for granted
like the microwave, computers, cell phones, etc. And we don’t even need to be so grandiose to
derive value … just living through the ups and downs of life, sicknesses,
people that aren’t around any longer, relationships that have gone well or
poorly. There’s a richness of available
experience that presents itself like a spring of fresh water in an arid
desert. And we tend to walk right past
it.
This is clearly a time where
I talk as much to me as I do to you in terms of the admonition I provide. All of us devalue our elders. And yet, God lays the groundwork for an
understanding of the importance of wisdom … it derives from “the fear of the
Lord.” The fear of the Lord is … in part
… lived out by valuing those He created and those He loves. The Lord loves all His people, including the
elderly. He has a plan for our lives …
including those whose plan is perhaps at a little more advanced stage than
others.
It should be noted that I’m
intentionally being a little loose in my strict Biblical interpretation
here. But my point is no less
Biblically-valid.
This week, ask the Lord to
change your heart (if applicable) with regard to an elderly person in your
life, or one that you encounter. There
are lifetimes of experience, understanding, and wisdom that are waiting to be
shared, waiting to feed us with the most important type of sustenance we can
seek. I’m not saying younger people
don’t have benefits and blessings with us … just not quite yet. 8-)
Grateful for each and every
day He’s entrusted to me … even though they’re too numerous to count (haha),
Michael
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