Aging

Friday, October 21, 2022.  They say aging isn’t for sissies, and boy, is that ever true.  When I was young, I thought I’d handle aging well once it was time to be old.  The problem is in your mind, you don’t feel any different.  Yes, you gain experience and wisdom, but you still feel like yourself; like the person you were decades ago.  So in your mind, it’s never “time to be old”.  Then one day, you notice some sagging, or some wrinkles, or grey hair, and at first, you think, “Okay, I can handle this”, because you think that’s all there is to it.  But it doesn’t stop, it keeps going until you look in the mirror and don’t recognize yourself.  I’ve come to realize that aging is learning to recognize yourself in that slowly declining physical state over and over.  You have to see past what’s in the mirror to what’s inside of you.  Here is where faith comes into play.  God sees us on the inside.  He’s seen us since before we were born into this world.  None of what the world sees on the outside matters to Him, it’s just the trappings we get caught up in during our brief stint here.  I’m not saying you should just totally let yourself go.  I think we should take care of the bodies God has given us to the best of our ability.  But that doesn’t mean being ageless.  I mean can you imagine being eighty and still looking like you did at twenty?  It’s silly but somehow still a struggle.  It’s definitely a test of faith to find yourself in a face you don’t recognize, but maybe that’s what we need as we age.  It truly is a privilege to get old when so many don’t.  Maybe the point is to strengthen our faith and accept what a blessing it is, wrinkles and all.