— Midweek Meditations:
thoughts, inspiration and encouragement
from ACF community members —
Gray hair is a crown of splendour, it is attained in the ways of righteousness
Proverbs 16:31
Recently I had the privilege of celebrating another birthday. Every year I am reminded of the famous quote from Mark Twain – “Don’t regret growing older, it’s a privilege denied to many.” This quote contradicts the thoughts of most of us living in the west. We live in the age of algorithms which having ascertained so many facts about me that I am bombarded daily with tips on how to look at least 20 years younger as if an aging body is a curse.
In this short meditation let us look what the bible tells us about the many positive things about growing old. Instead of feeling like our lives are slipping away and there is so much more to do let us be willing to see the blessings of growing older.
You may be retired or rapidly approaching it and many of us spend time thinking about our accomplishments and failures. Many people regret retirement because they associate retirement with a lack of purpose. But being older can also be a season of purpose. Following is a quote from Simone de Beauvoir:
“There is only one solution if old age is not to be an absurd parody of our former life, and that is to go on pursuing ends that give our existence a meaning — devotion to individuals, to groups or to causes, social, political, intellectual or creative work… In old age we should wish still to have passions strong enough to prevent us turning in on ourselves. One’s life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others, by means of love, friendship, indignation, compassion.
We differ with the content of our accumulated knowledge but we all learn new things continually. We have all learned through our daily interactions in our many days we’ve walked on this earth. The older we get the more we can say “been there,done that”. The western culture often doesn’t value on the wisdom of age but God places great value on it. Proverbs tells us that finding wisdom is good.
Proverbs 3:13 “Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding_”
As we grow older we have a greater sense of priority. It is easier to hold on to the important things and ignore the many distractions in our daily lives. For some of us there is a feeling of finally having the time to invest in the things that are most important to ourselves. It is also a time were our faith can grow as we have more time for meditation, prayer and Bible reading.
In closing a list of verses:
- “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you” (Isaiah 46:4)
- “With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation” (Psalm 91:16)
- “That is why we are not discouraged. Though outwardly we are wearing out, inwardly we are renewed day by day” (I Corinthians 4:16)
- Don’t love money, be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, I will never fail you. I will never abandon you” (Hebrews 13:5)
The ACF Midweek Meditations
are written by a diverse group of our church members with the intention to seek God’s fingerprints in our lives. They range from somber to humorous and are inspired by all facets of live and faith. Written by ordinary people from all walks of life, they reflect a wide range of Christian backgrounds and spiritualities.
Each week’s text portrays the individual viewpoint of its author. They might not always resonate with everyone, and are not meant to be understood as representing the Anglican Church Freiburg as a whole. Yet, as a church that is aiming to ‘Build a Community of Grace’ we seek to practice learning from and listening to one another.
We pray that these humble ponderings add a small spark of blessing to your week.
Freiburg Anglican Church 
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