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Revelation 22:17
Have you noticed that our concept of aging is changing? Remember when seventy was old? Jack LaLanne, the well-known TV exercise coach who hosted a fitness program from 1951-1985, celebrated his seventieth birthday in 1984 by towing 70 boats containing 70 people for a mile across Long Beach Harbor. Amazing! And he did it by holding the rope in his teeth. He was handcuffed and wearing leg shackles! How do you celebrate your birthday? Paul Harvey once spoke about a woman who was 103. When asked her formula for living such a healthy, active life, Eva Reitzel responded in only nine words: "Stay away from doctors and stay away from men." Good advice.
Our attitudes toward aging are also changing. In the early 1960s, a group of middle-class, middle-aged people were asked their opinions on the best ages for various life events and how old people are at various life stages. Twenty years later the study was repeated. An amazing change had occurred. Consensus had dropped regarding every item of the questionnaire. In the first study, "a young man" was said to be a man between eighteen and twenty-two. In the repeat study, "a young man" was anywhere from eighteen to forty. "What is extraordinary about this," say the authors of the study, "is that in the public mind 'youth' appears to have expanded from a period lasting roughly four years to a period of about twenty-two years" more than five times longer! Many people are discovering today that life really does begin at forty.
Today's forty-year-old can possibly look forward to another half-century of productive living. Of course, the way Social Security is going, we will have to be productive until we're ninety.
There are challenges that go with aging, though. As someone has said, aging isn't for sissies. The physical challenges of a lifetime of wear and tear on the body can be daunting. Nevertheless, there are many positive advances being made that should influence how we feel about the aging process. More than ever there is truth to that time-honored cliche, "You're only as old as you feel." And that brings us to something we need to seriously think about: What really matters is not the condition of our body, but that of our soul. It's good that we are taking better care of our bodies. These bodies, properly maintained, will last us a long time. But life should never be measured by its length. Who are we on the inside? That's what really counts. What do we value? How are we active in our community? How are we relating to our family? How close are we to God?
Sam didn't think much about those things. His focus was on his work. He was a huge success, but not a happy man. Particularly in his later years, he was quite crusty and cynical. Sam was married to a woman named Olivia Langdon. Olivia was a believer. Her faith was simple, and she was a devout Christian. When they first married, they read a chapter from the Bible every day and had grace at meals, but soon this was abandoned primarily due to Sam's disinterest. He had little if any faith. Olivia gave up some of her religious convictions, too, as time went along. She traveled across Europe with her husband and listened to his friends who had forsaken what faith they had in God. When sorrow struck their home, three of their children died. Sam said to his wife, "Livy, if it comforts you to lean on the Christian faith do so." Her pet-name for Sam was "Youth," and she replied, "I can't, Youth; I haven't any."
How sad. To have no resources on which to draw in times of sorrow. The entire world may have crowned Samuel Clemens, or Mark Twain, as many know him, a success, but inwardly he was a failure, and that failure became more pronounced in the later years of his life. That can happen. It can happen to people like you and me. As modern science adds years to our life, can we add life to our years? The answer is found in Revelation 22:17, "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come! And let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.
In his book, "The Man In Cell No.1," Lee Roberson describes how the Spanish explorer, Ponce de Leon, set out in 1513 to find the legendary Fountain of Youth. His journey brought him to the part of our country known today as Florida. It was Ponce de Leon who gave it this name. Ponce de Leon failed to find the Fountain of Youth, says Lee, because he looked in the wrong places. Had he searched in the Bible, he would have found in its pages the true Fountain of Eternal Youth had he read Jesus' words to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:14, "But whoever drinks of the water that I give them will never thirst;" or these words that John heard in a vision in Revelation 22:17, "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come! And let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life. Are you thirsty? Come to Jesus.
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Rev. Charles Eldredge is a member of Maitland Church of the Brethren. He has a Facebook page and can be contacted by email: ce1133 @verizon.net.