Now That I am Old

Scripture

Now that I am old and gray, do not abandon me, O God. Let me proclaim your power to this new generation, your mighty miracles to all who come after me.

~Psalm 71:18, NLT

Quote

Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.

~Mark Twain

Age is sneaky; it has a subtle way of slipping up on you. I tell folks that I went to bed young and woke up old. Seriously, it seems unreal that I can remember things that happened 65 years ago. I can remember when old Gregg was young. When I was young, I never dreamed about being old but any way you cut it, I am no spring chicken. I am reading STREAMS IS THE DESERT FOUR and yesterday I came across something interesting: They are called–PRECEPTS FOR OLD FOLKS or GOLDEN RULES FOR GOLDEN YEARS. The author is Frank Crane.

[1] I will not act or dress in such a way as to make people think I am younger than I am.

[2] I will not pretend to be young nor get angry when someone calls me old.

[3] I will not lie about or be ashamed of my age.

[4] I will not continually remind people of my age so that I can hear them say, “You don’t look that old.”

[5] I will not live in the past.

[6] I will be particularly careful not to tell the same joke over and over.

[7] I will not complain about the present nor boast about the good old days.

[8] Although I am partially deaf, wear glasses, have dentures and am otherwise afflicted; I will not boast about my infirmities.

[9] I will not talk about myself, my work, my achievement or even my mistakes–no more than possible.

[10] I will smile and speak cheerfully.

[11] I will no indulge in gossip, cynicism, nor look down on the youth of another.

[12] I will always appreciate and encourage those who are younger.

[13] My goal is to grow old gracefully: this will be my final triumph.

[14] In a word, I will try to adjust to unforeseen changes with a positive attitude.

[15] I will not complain about being old.

I realize that most of you can’t relate to this yet: just me and old Gregg and a couple of more. I looked at it like a test and I failed. See, I have already broken one of the rules, I’ve told you about my failure. I use to laugh at the Senior Adult mens class at DBC: Luther, Bill, Hugh, and Milton. They began every class with a confessions of ailments; I even caught them showing scars one Sunday morning. Guess what, I am becoming more and more like them everyday. I even think I’m prone to tell the same jokes over and over.

I wrote this blog sometime last week, I had it ready and forgot all about the blog. I am in a January Bible Study at Sardis Springs and I was so excited about that I forgot to post the blog. We’ve had some much rain, we are don’t to one commode [1/4] that will flush. We are going to have to have sunshine or roto-rooter and he’s had on the pocket book.

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