BEING ELDERLY
«Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass» (Psalm 37:5).
IN 160 BC, OLD AGE was seen as a sort of disease. When an old man died, he would say, «A defeated man’s fight is over.» Despite the past centuries, the trend does not seem to have changed much; today, youth is regarded as a treasure and old age is dismissed, looking at it as an irretrievable loss,
It seems that old age is only considered a matter of health; strength diminishes, physical abilities deteriorate, visual and auditory acuity wears down, and intellectual faculties slow down. Obviously, the fullness of life goes beyond the physical aspects. In old age, the physical is lived differently, but not less intense than in youth. An elderly woman’s slow steps are also a response to the years she has lived. Haste is unnecessary. It’s a time for contemplation, reflection, and encounter with life. This is a lesson that young people would do well to learn so as not to be swallowed up by the whirlwind of modern life.
Life’s daily tasks don’t end with the years; they continue, but in a different way. Elderly women don’t count the time on the hands of a clock; they count it on their experiences and good works. They have the opportunity and privilege to live the present without the anxiety and fear that young women experience about the future.
This stage of life is when priority is given to the essential and the trivial is set aside. Productivity isn’t over; it only takes another direction. The elderly woman’s hands, lips, and arms are laden with life stories, fulfilled desires, overcome failures. Anyone who seeks to shake those hands and hear those stories, has before him or her a life manual that teaches, corrects, and counsels in a practical way, not with an unproven theory. They are life experiences that give her authority. This is the time when her relationship with God is very genuine and real, that death is considered just as an approaching time of our Lord’s coming.
Live your senior years with gratitude to God for having reached this special time in your life, which places you as a teacher of the good, a counselor, and a friend. The Lord will be with you now and the rest of your life.
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Take From: Daily Devotions for Women’s 2021
«BRUSHSTROKES OF GOD’S LOVE»
BY: Erna Alvarado Poblete
Collaborators: Lorina Maya & Alejandra Zavala