Older -Still Fruitful?
Psalms 92:12-15
The righteous flourish like the palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God.
In old age they still produce fruit; they are always green and full of sap,
showing that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
First please know any and all true righteousness comes from the utterly righteous God Himself via the equally righteous Son of God Jesus Christ and granted us in the day-to-day practical by the Holy Spirit due to the Savior's love and sacrifice for us.
IF and only if we trust Him and walk in a saving faith relationship with Him is such righteousness a reality in our lives as believers.
As I age- and yep, if God has you on the planet in good enough health you are getting older and will age- I think part of His call and my mission is to hopefully offer a bit of a witness on how to, as they say, "age gracefully" HA! So how would I define that?
More love, more giving, more living to serve the Lord and others in His love!
Not too profound is it? But to be clear: More love, more giving, more living to serve the Lord and others in His love! And for Glenn, less focus on Glenn...
So what about some of the practical issues?
In my case, working out daily which I never did until about 4 years ago, just light but daily workouts for physical strength and agility. Routine health check ups. Working at eating healthy and not doing continual pig-out -which really will come back to haunt you in negative ways as you get older.
Eyesight changes- glasses, at least magnifying readers help, believe me! And for myself, bi-focals for night driving. Books are sweet but back-lit devices are 24x7 and font sizes adjustable, even audio books via library borrows and downloads all work great. Don't limit yourself in learning about how to use all these. Continuing to educate yourself and grow means they're important facets in a longer-lived life.
Also wearing hearing aids- you can't shoot, hunt, play loud music without ear plugs or at high volume, on stage, in recording studios and etc. as I have for many decades and -not- lose the higher frequencies in your ear/s. As more people wear earbuds or headphones, even non-musicians will eventually be in need of hearing help at some point. Working to protect hearing and keep volumes less kickin' is essential, that and taking breaks from loudness whatever the environment may bring it in your case.
Between hearing issues and wanting to study but in a peaceful manner I often turn the volume off and read the captions.
Slowing down even though your natural personality and metabolism may be in "fifth gear". Ha, I'm naturally "caffeinated" and in fact do love coffee and tea and sometimes sugar-free soft drinks but only do decaf with all of these now.
To actively slow down takes thought and effort. It means you can't do everything and be everywhere you'd like to be or even hang out with everyone all the time!
Part of emotionally healthy aging may happen by taking social media/online breaks just to clear your head or mitigate anxiety that much research and experience concludes is an issue in our constantly-connected world. So digital -disconnecting-, heading for a park, the woods, a library, opening a book instead of staring at a screen is good and beneficial practice.
There is genuine therapy in a healthy hobby, learning a new craft, a new-to-you art form, to observe, learn, humbly ask questions and grow. I've written a lot about it because art of all sorts- not only music, has been an incredible blessing to keep me sane and stable.
There is truly a lot of negative stuff happening in the wide world, even locally no matter where you live (I've lived in full-on rural areas as well as inner city... yep- no matter where you are). On one hand we need breaks from it all and indeed from those whose regular chatter is downer, critical and angry... Not hiding our head in the sand but not a constant stream of woe either!
I read a -lot- of scripture daily: early, mid-day and late. I also check a very wide range of news sources (English language all around the world) so to balance my input and perspectives based on God's Word as well as keeping up with various societies' issues in various places around the world is in my view, wise and without which one can bury their brains in a rather narrow slot and thus field of view. Balance is a huge need for us all, so if I sense my anxiety level increasing I do more in studying God's thoughts and back off checking those of human pundits for a bit.
So many folks fully block out anything negative in the world while others wallow in the mass of injustice and misery... I think both are out of balance and as a follower of Jesus who seeks to encourage others I -need- to be aware and yet guard my own heart and emotions from either ignorance OR burnout in my day-to-day walk with the Lord and with my fellow humans.
I regularly try to remind folks- none of us are here for ourselves only. Whatever God has given and gifted us with is to be shared with others, not merely hoarded or stashed in a bank be that a literal or a sort of spiritual "lock box".
The temptation to just withdraw and live for ourselves or throw our hands up at the troubled world and sometimes within us as if we have zero options for growing, maturing and living lives that bless others is real and often strong. Don't believe the liar's lie that you have nothing to offer! Eyes on Jesus and hearts toward those in need ("the least of these" as Jesus said in Matthew chapter 25) is as essential as aging is inevitable.
Much of what I've mentioned here has a load of experienced, evidence-based as well as scientific findings that will hold true for you as it has and does in my own life.
One of the hard parts for many reading this is finding and maintaining long-term, open and honest friendships with more than one person. A spouse is amazing but we also need others and not only friendship but confessional accountability between us. I've had and maintained these throughout my life and believe me when I say they have had -everything- to do with any fruitfulness in my life. Certainly it's the Holy Spirit Who produces spiritual fruit but in the practical close friendships have been -the- deal and continue to be!
Lastly, Jesus taught that we "should always pray and not to faint". I love that. An old saying I repeat from time to time is "Why pray when you can worry?"!! :)
Hopefully some of what I've said can be of some help to you, that's my desire- and as always, thanks for stopping by! -Glenn
Comments