Dear Friends,
Several years ago, when I was teaching and coaching in Fort
Lauderdale, I had my first taste of growing old. I was shopping in a Walmart
store with Jean, and my feet were aching. Out of the corner of my eye as we
walked through the entrance, I spotted one of those electric carts provided for
the physically challenged. I thought to myself, I wonder what it's like to go
shopping in one of those wonderful little contraptions, so in I hopped. Jean,
being the gracious woman that she is and feeling sorry for her husband's aching
feet, joyfully pushed me up and down those Walmart aisles. What fun and how
liberating to shop for groceries while speeding up and down those shopping
aisles. We both laughed as I asked her, “What are we going to say if we should
run into someone on staff from our church?” And wouldn't you know it, just a
few moments later we found ourselves face to face with Lynn Wells, one of our
school’s preschool teachers. Well, we all had a great laugh after we explained
our little caper, and then I was once again on my way doing wheelies up and
down the frozen food section.”
Now I must admit that it was fun being pushed through the
supermarket aisles, and Jean and I had some wonderful laughs as we engaged in
our little escapade, but it got me to thinking about growing old.
There is a story that Chuck Swindoll tells in one of my favorite
devotional books, The Finishing Touch. The message was titled “Don’t
Task It Easy.” A doctor was examining a lady in her 80’s. She was still in good
physical condition, which prompted the doctor to ask her if she stayed active.
With a wink, she bragged, “I jog about four to five miles a day........ every
day.” Surprised, he told her she didn't need to overdo it. “Take it easy,” he
suggested. She took his words to heart and decided to slow down. She reduced
her jog to a much slower walk and cut back her exercise to three or four days a
week. I'll never forget the doctor's sad sigh, Swindoll wrote, as he finished
the story with the words of the doctor. “She died a month ago. Never again will
I tell a patient doing as well as she was doing to take it easy.”
The story got me to thinking about a person I knew and loved in a
congregation I served in Red Bank, New Jersey. She was 103 years young, having
only the year before given up a women’s Bible study which she had been leading
for many years. Imagine, still being fully engaged in ministry at 102. May her
tribe increase.
Well, I hope as old age creeps up on us all, we can maintain that
same passion for service that characterized her life. If I ever get pushed
around again in one of those little shopping carts, I want it to be because I
chose to be pushed and not because I had to be pushed.
I want to go home with my boots on like my friend Ruth.
I want to be like Caleb, who was strong and vigorous at 85. He
says, “I'm as strong this day as I was on the day that Moses sent me” (Joshua
14: 11). I bet Caleb wasn't looking to be pushed in one of those Walmart
shopping carts. I suspect he probably just got off the treadmill when he cried
out, “Give me this mountain” (Joshua 14: 12). No, Caleb wasn't staring at
retirement with a smile on his face. He hadn't lost the twinkle in his eye or
the zest for some new challenge. He knew he had plenty left within to continue
to serve, and so off he goes to take the mountain.
Take it easy, I hope not. I want to be a Caleb, still eagerly
looking for some new challenge at 85, and I hope that is your spirit as well.
Well, I must close. The treadmill is waiting, and I'm not about to “Take it
easy.”
Yours in ministry,
Tom
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