A father and son live across the street. Even though there is forty years difference in their ages the level of competition on all levels continues to grow. I do not believe the father holds illusions of actually winning. He believes that one should always strive for their best in whatever is at hand, living, playing, and running. If this means beating his son in the course of a two or three mile training run then so be it! The competition spans everything! The good news is that it is fun to watch, both enjoy it, and there is a genuine spirit of adventure, competition, and camaraderie.
Watching them compete provides much food for thought. I have discussed the approach and awareness with the father and I find that we have much in common. Both of us do not feel any older than shortly after we graduated from University. We also recall our own perceptions of our fathers when we were seventeen or our fathers were north of fifty-five. Somehow we do not look at ourselves that way.
I find myself looking at others through the traditional lenses. Age can bring slower reflexes; does it lower the odds of winning? Age is often visible to others, if only because of the gray hair; is there a automatic edge to the young who believe youth always wins out over age? Do the mental capacities go once you pass fifty?
Part of me knows that the answer is No, No, and a big NO! Part of me wonders.
I know God has not slowed down with age. I know that “nothing clever, nothing conceived, nothing contrived, can get the better of God.” (Proverbs 21.30) And yet I act as if God is getting dumber by the day, slower by the minutes, and less observant by the second.
There are awesome stories of people competing in athletics, leading major corporations, and impacting the lives of people around them well after fifty and even eighty. Imagine what God is like given that he created time opens up all possibilities.
