GAP TRAP
In the past few days, I've been able to see two of my all time favorite people. If you were to add their ages together, they would total 166 years of life, breath, and experience. In their eyes are the lives and memories of a time and a place that bears little, or no, resemblance to anything we experience today. Yet, what makes these people among my favorites, isn't their ability to give me a glimpse into a time I wish I could have seen with my own eyes. No, what places them on my "hit list" is the fact that they still have a spark. Contrary to what you may think, spending times with these elder statespeople isn't a duty that I endure, or a chore that I can thankfully tick off my "to-do" list. These people are a treat to my soul. They give me much more than I could ever give them. They have a sense of joy and laughter that makes them a hoot to be around, and their wisdom means I can even learn while I laugh.
If I were the analyzing type (and I'm usually not), I would say that their humor stems from the fact that life lived for any length of time has to become either amusing or abusing to the soul. They chose the former. I think their wisdom comes from having the advantage of stepping out of the rat race. Now that they are no longer part of it, they are able to observe the cage in which most of us run. More to the point, these guys know what's important and what's not. I have no trouble talking with them about spiritual matters, because to them, it is the spiritual that does matter! The physical, at this point, is becoming much harder to believe in, or trust.
What is it about people that makes us want to flock together in tight little groups of homogenous ho hum herds? Today we have lost the art of communicating outside of our own generation. We seem much more adept at creating distrust and suspicion then we are at creating unity and understanding. This happens even in the Church. Often the older generation think the younger is up to something; and the younger generation think the older is good for nothing. How sad!
From my own perspective, the one thing I have learned over the years is that I was much more critical and demanding about having things my way when I was younger. Experience also tells me that age has a way of fooling us as well. Some of the oldest thinkers I've met in the Church were wrapped up in youngish bodies; some of the youngest thinkers I've met had the most lines inscribed on their faces. Still, I realize that there are trouble makers in both camps. But the trouble doesn't come from age, or the lack of it — it comes from the demands and self-centeredness of pride.
I think most of our generational troubles would evaporate if we just started treating each other like members of a family. Isn't that what Paul instructs Timothy to do? "Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity." (1 Tim 5:1,2)
All I know is that two of my oldest friends are also two of my coolest friends! I would be a much poorer person without them in my life. Hopefully, they feel the same way about me. So, the question I leave with you is this: whose friendship are you missing out on just because there are a few years separating your birth dates? A few years, or even a few decades won't amount to much after we've lived together a few million years in eternity. How about getting the fellowship wheels rolling NOW! I'll guarantee that you'll be pleasantly surprised! Who knows, you may even surprise someone else!
If you have any thoughts or comments, please click on my name at the bottom of this page and I promise to reply.
