In less than three years I am scheduled to have an eightieth birthday. Someone who is ninety-nine looks at me as quite young. Most people see me as . . . well, you know. Ten years ago I was working on the exterior of a log house and a guy in his twenties, who was also working at that location, was asked by his dad, "who is staining the log siding on that house?" He answered, "some old guy". I was sixty-seven at the time. It turns out his dad was a friend of mine and when he found out who his son was talking about he got a big laugh and couldn't wait to tell me. In nearly every respect I am better physically than I was at that time. In some ways you could truthfully say that I have gotten "younger".
I never intend to "retire". When I left Mansfield Christian after many years there I "moved on to something else". Nine years ago I was invited to be a part time member of a church staff as primarily a Bible teacher. From time to time I do some interior decorating (painting) not just because I "must" work but because I enjoy it. My business card and billing form says, "Bringing the fine touch to fine homes since 1957". I know of no one else who has been doing it that long, and I have no intention of stopping.
With the start of Genesis Academy at Ashland in 2015 I was invited to resume teaching Bible at the high school level. I look forward to beginning the fifth year with 28 students scheduled (so far) for my Wednesday and Friday classes. Genesis Academy is gradually transitioning from a home school co-op to a high school structure. So, God is pleased to have me ministering His word to people from ages 13 to . . . you name it. I am teaching the Word to groups large and small in Mansfield at least three times a week in addition to Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings at Ashland.
Is there a history of longevity in my family? My parents lived to ages 91 and 92 and with some better choices could easily have lived longer. But, my grandparents were all gone by age 71. Without modern medical care I would have been gone by now. Likewise would Susan. The two important biblical words "but God" are what really matters here. One can have the best diet and best medical care and still not live "long". Our choices in life DO MATTER. "But God" still has the final word.
Another question, which many are afraid to ask, "can someone my age connect with younger people?" I cannot speak for others but people my age have been "connecting" with younger people for centuries and I intend to keep doing it. A person may "get old" but one does not have to "think old". Younger people who have any sense at all know that someone like me has seen a lot happen and can give them a perspective on life that can prove priceless. I have heard in my lifetime just about every form of "Christian music" you can name and some you cannot name. I was playing piano and organ in church services when I was fourteen. I can bring a perspective to the thirty year old music controversy in churches that many do not have. I am both open minded as well as a realist. I do NOT believe that older music and older ways are NECESSARILY better. But as a realist I see that music, morals and about anything else you can name, has been on a downward trajectory for several decades, both in the world and in the church.
Part of the perspective I can give younger people is that I have lived in, literally, two worlds. I came of age in an America where all things Christian were respected and a part of all of life. Public school teachers led in prayer and read Scripture. Public high schools had prayer and recognition of God as part of every graduation and on other occasions. I grew up in a world where all girls wore skirts or dresses to school every day and no one thought of doing anything differently. Christian morality was assumed by nearly everyone. I can explain these things to younger people growing up in a world where things that were once unthinkable are now accepted norms. I can help people grasp what it means to be in a world that is upside down. Whether or not younger people want to benefit from my nearly eight decades of life experience is up to them. They will give account to God for their choice in this matter and I will give account to God for my faithfulness in being willing to help them. The ball is in their court.
I am writing this on the 56th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech. I watched things that King spoke of go from the very bad of the 1950's to the much better of the 1970's and now going back to the much worse. I, of all people, understand that the "good old days" were a mix of some very great good and some very dark evil. I am uniquely situated to see that the present time is indeed very dark but that some very bright shafts of light from believers in Christ are piercing the darkness. I intend to help them burn brighter, so that however far away or near the Coming of Christ again may be, the children and grandchildren of these whom I am trying to help will say, "Wow, you lived at a time when God was really moving!"
