Presenting ...
... a weekly letter of encouragement.
Singapore
October 17, 1994
Good Morning!
QUESTION: IS IT POSSIBLE TO GROW OLD GRACIOUSLY?
Will your children want you around when you are in your '70's
or '80's?
What attitudes present in your life today have the potential
of ossifying into unattractive - even repulsive behavior in your
old age?
Often, in my exposure to older Christians...even "saints",
so-called, I come away disappointed.
Why is it that up close so many come off as self-centered, narrow and rigid...Prima donnas.
This is not God's idea of righteous older people. Listen to Psalm
92:12 - 14:
"The righteous man will flourish like a palm tree, He
will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Planted in the house
of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God.
THEY WILL STILL YIELD FRUIT IN OLD AGE; they shall
be full of sap and very green."
Here the psalmist paints a picture of flexibility...of reaching
out...of growth. Of life!
In your social interaction with others:
Do you make an effort to focus the attention on yourself or on
them?
Is it your intent to minister, or to impress?
Do you decide the perimeters and direction of the conversation,
or do you choose to serve by letting them make that determination?
Given your present social patterns, what will your attitude be
like in 5, 10, or 20 years: Supple, magnanimous and giving?
Or inflexible, censoring and distant?
The attitudes you entertain today indicate what you are in
the process of becoming tomorrow...and in old age.
In the future, your children and friends may well have to live
with the blessing or brunt of what you are becoming.
Are you happy with that prospect?
Have a great week
Dwight Hill
© Copyright 1996 Dwight Hill. Unlimited permission to copy or use is hereby granted subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.
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