A New S eason

[Johnnz]

Life has its seasons. We are now in a different season. I have been challenged to learn more about this period in my life.

Basically, we can simply grow old and live with a 'holding pen' mentality. Or, we can function as elders, a community resource of shared experiences, wisdom. advice and spiritual parenthood for younger people in earlier stages of life. I am not talking about 'elder' in a church office sense, but, as in many cultures, as people who are recognised and function as a community resource.

Psalm 1 talks about a mature tree bearing fruit in its season. Do you have this vision for this stage of your life?

John
NZ

 

[rebornfree]

Interesting question. I've not thought about it in that way, but I suppose that my life experiences may have some value in helping younger people, particularly regarding how/why people behave in certain ways and how to respond Biblically to certain situations. However I would regard it as presumptuous to offer advice, unless asked for, and am aware that they may face situations which I haven't and also are living in a different generation which faces different pressures to our generation, such as increasing secularisation and political correctness. So I think I regard the rest of my life as being open to what the Lord wants me to do, which may include being an "elder" figure or may be doing something in a specific area, which is not necessarily related to age.

 

[ken777]

The wisdom of the elders does not seem to be appreciated so much these days ... does not mean it is not needed though. Today we have such a plethora of professional people who provide services to support, counsel, & guide that the family elder is often overlooked.

When I tell my grandchildren about the days money was left on the doorstop for the baker & the milkman, and windows were left open on a summer's night, and a child could walk alone home from school, I think it helps them to gain perspective about a world that today so often appears threatening.

When I tell them about feeling confused as to what I wanted to do when I left school, about feeling nervous when I got my first job, and about having my heart broken by the one I loved who did not love me, then they realize people have not changed all that much.

 

[rebornfree]

I agree about the wisdom of the elders not being valued as it once was. We didn't have children, so I have no grandchildren to advise, and I certainly would be lost in young people's world of technology/social networking etc. However I remember talking to a friend's daughter about bereavement, as she had lost her mother when in her twenties, as I had too. There are some things that don't change, I agree.