Make room for old people in your life
Other societies embrace the inevitability of death (and are less angst-ridden for it) while ours glorifies youth and hides our old people where we can’t see them. So many things are wrong with this picture – we miss out on their stories for one thing.
God didn’t intend this. He set it up in the beginning that our elderly would be vital parts of our community who help with the grandbabies and inspire the next generation to live godly lives. I don’t understand how our elders have taken over entire states like Florida and Arizona while our youth live in gangs elsewhere. Both generations lose out.
So, if society is broken, how do we fix ourselves? Begin with the old people in your life. Are they tucked away somewhere? Ask God how you can connect with them. Or, if you can live near them, that’s even better. I’m at an age where my friends are losing their parents. It’s so much easier if their parents are close by.
Or, make the time to visit a senior citizen home nearby. My high school daughter used to do this weekly and it enriched her life.
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You have now approached one of my top ten reasons why the local church is broken….
#5 a demographic view
when the church adopted the sunday school model in the 19th century which was so highly influenced by the secular British social work movement….
And then added the American post WWII demographic principles so well articulated by Madison Avenue, we decided to build a church of silos, due to supposedly generational “interests”. In fact the church fully bought into this pig in a poke
Family’s thankfully didn’t completely adopt this model, unlike the church they actually believed that great aunt betty, pappy pepper, grammy ethel did have some value to them and their children.
In fact those line faces’s value many times was moral, and at times the questions were iniated by the young like “what did you do in Korea?”, “how did you date without a car?”, “Was YOUR dad talking to your dates, like mine?”.
I can’t tell you how many incredulous looks and responses I’ve gotten from youth pastors about their silos and integrating everyone, “they won’t be interested…” is a classical response.
Most churches still believe that they are educators, educating the ten commandments, the beatitudes, the jonah story.
But the real job by the parents and the church is to create DESIRE. Sit back and read Proverbs, 25% of the book or more is about desire, especially in its dramatic beginning and its pauses.
The local church has failed its, because we have ignored the counsel of a part of the body despising another. Fundamentally this anamethic teaching is embraced, operated, and defended everyday in the church. In fact we even like to market it on our bulletins, brochures, and web sites.
Jesus was probably successfuly because he DID NOT go the religious schools of his day, Paul was probably successful BECAUSE of his hellenization extending beyond his studies in the line of Hillel.
Thanks for making comment on our “last generation”. Soon we will be the generation that the present generation deals with looking down at us in wheelchairs and oxygen tubes, etc. Age does that to everyone if you are privileged to get that far in life. My most recent job that I was employed at gave me the great opportunity to enlighten some elderly people with a friendly smile, a word of encouragement, and sometimes a gift to share. Often they spoke over and over again words like “I just want to go Home”, or “I’m just scared!” We need to constantly remind ourselves that we are God’s hands, feet, ears and mouths. Let’s use them for the unfortunate in life that face so many struggles at the end of life. We just may be there in that condition some day ourselves watching the rest of the world, hoping that they don’t just pass us by without a care.