From My Perspective - - -

The passage from youth to older age seems to move very rapidly. At the outset of youth, it appears to move slowly, but as one advances into adulthood, the clock seems to accelerate and the years seem to pass more quickly. One of the major adjustments is in the area of vibrancy and vitality. Vibrancy, where one moves about quickly and without too many concerns or restrictions; and Vitality, where there is an excitement in both physical pursuits and mental achievements with few, if any, restraints. How can and should one adjust to the aging process and the limitations that come with it? One of the difficulties is the reaction and response of a younger generation who don’t always manifest any appreciation or need for those who have been down the road of life for several years.

The Biblical perspective of life is interesting as well. It shows the physical time-frame for it and the quickness of the passage of time and life. If or when one attends a funeral for a departed friend or acquaintance, aside from the “traditional” reading of Psalm 23, one may also hear these words from James 4:13-15, “Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that." The Message Paraphrase is blunt, perhaps crass, when it shares: “And now I have a word for you who brashly announce, Today - at the latest, tomorrow - we're off to such and such a city for the year. We're going to start a business and make a lot of money. You don't know the first thing about tomorrow. You're nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing. Instead, make it a habit to say, If the Master wills it and we're still alive, we'll do this or that."

Another Biblical Chapter often used at a funeral is The Prayer of Moses in Psalm 90:10-12, “The length of our days is seventy years-- or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away…Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” The New Living Translation, “Seventy years are given to us! Some may even reach eighty. But even the best of these years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we are gone…Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom.” The Bible is essentially preparing one, and his/her loved ones for the inevitability – life is more short than we think. We need to interact, not morbidly but with reality, that those who are aging will soon die and be buried. I have met too many people over the years who were full of regret for the lost opportunities and missed moments with for whom there was both care and interest.

What are the positives for those who are in the aging process? Isaiah 40:28-31 comes to mind, “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Another is, Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” In Joshua 14:10-12, my personal hero and one whom I hope I can emulate, is Caleb, who says: “And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, just as he said…while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said." Stay focused! Keep looking unto Jesus! Always let Him be your strength and shield!  Consider these things with me!