Last night was spent with my physical therapist. As in previous visits, his actions painfully reminded me of the miles traveled by my physical body. I do not know what I expected to find as I grow older, but the wear and tear on my joints was not in my rose-colored sights.
Remember when you were young? What were you like then? I did not know you then but there are a few things that I can accurately surmise about you past and mine.
First, we were more active then than now. I am not thinking about the speed or frequency of your movements, rather the late hours you often kept. The body easily bounced back then, resilient to sleep deprivation, junk food, and stress. Now everything moves more slowly and deliberate.
Second, we engaged in more conversations. Phone calls, extended conversations that went on for days, and notes slipped in class were the norm. Granted some of them were short, yet the point was that you were actively engaged with the people around you. Today, it seems that as we age the number of close friends shrinks and the time where we live life in isolated cocoon grows.
Third, the type of conversations we enjoy is different. In the early days we enjoyed talking about anything and everything with anyone we found attractive or cool. The conversations between classes were, in hindsight of course, classic. Nowhere can I image a better proof example of the proverb “fools care nothing for thoughtful discourse; all they do is run off at the mouth.” (Proverbs 18.2)
The irony is that I am not sure anything has really changed. I still long for the touch that says I love you which I receive everyday from the three girls in my life. I still thirst to experience unconditional acceptance, realizing that God gives me what I refuse to accept. And finally there is hope.
Something is different from the days of my youth. Before I wondered if love, acceptance, and hope were real; today by God I know they are.
