I am old. Not only am I old, but (with all deference to my calling and chosen clerical profession as well as apologies to those who might be offended, though not surprised by this revelation) I am an old fart. I always knew the day would come when I would be a part of that age old fraternity of being old and feeling out of touch. Yet I never thought I would become an active member of the geriatric sub committee known as “the old farts.”
Being and feeling old is a relative stage of life and sort of creeps up on a body. One day you feel in touch and “with it.” The next day you are forgetting things and appointments, feel out of touch with current thoughts and trends, and are critical of things you don’t understand. It’s this last aspect of being old–being unnecessarily critical and negative toward things you don’t understand–which promotes one into the OFC (Old Fart Club–I’ll use this acronym henceforth to avoid the repetitive use of a word, fart, which might offend some. So, I’ll not use that word anymore . . . the word fart, I mean). By the way, here’s a little tip which you might want to file away for future use: It’s not a good idea to take Nighttime NyQuil shortly before you blog. It might make you say things that are uncharacteristic and potentially offensive. Anyway, where was I . . . See what I mean?
Oh yes, getting old. At 42, relatively younger than many, I may not be considered old by some. AARP has not sent me a welcome packet yet. But it seems that in the past couple of months I have become more aware of my age. I am getting quite forgetful. For example, our elders were planning a Christmas get together and it seemed everyone had been called with the date except for me. As it turns out (and I’ll deny this as long as I’m alive–which probably won’t be long) one of our elders’ wife called me and talked to me on the phone about the party. I have no recollection of this. Now, to my defense, I believe I had been asleep when she called. Yet, this too is another aspect of growing old: Random napping throughout the day. Another, more painful example, came when my wife was leaving for a weekend trip and asked me to do some things while she was gone. Upon her return home she noticed that I didn’t do them. She, very sweetly, brought them to my attention. I had to admit I had no recollection of her instructions.
And then the coup de gras (is that how you spell that?–Awe, I don’t care. As a member of the OFC, I don’t have to care about whether I spell things right) . . . I had arranged to take Andrew and Becca for haircuts not too long ago. We sat in the waiting area for about ten minutes. Tina, our family hair cutter of seven years came out and looked at me. “Chris, I have to ask you what’s going on?” I looked at Tina, who is roughly my age, and felt pity for her that she had forgotten our appointments. She informed me I had made the kids’ appointments for Friday, one day later. I told her she was mistaken, proceeding to show her the appointment card. I’m sure it’s no surprise to you by now that I was wrong and had forgotten the day of the appointment.
All of this is well and good. Just par for the course for an aging, too busy, preoccupied pastor–sort of a lovable, daffy, absent minded professor. Yet I feel myself moving lately into the clubhouse of the OFC. I have always considered myself on the cutting edge of what was happening in my worlds–technology, ministry, church, society, etc. Not that I uncritically accept as valid or true or helpful everything. But, at least, I was aware of the movers and shakers and trends of my corner of the world. Not that I want to be a slave to every shifting sand and blowing wind, but I will admit that, at some point, I fell behind in even being aware of the changes and trends around me. And then, proceeding to be critical of new things in much the same way Archie Bunker would complain when Edith replaced his favorite, familiar chair with a new one.
I became aware of this recently when I signed up and created a presence on the social networking site Facebook. I had been very critical of these social networking sites and those who “waste their time” messing with them. And there is a lot to be wary of regarding them: it can be a colossal time waster, leads to procrastination, dangers to youth of predators, etc. I made the decision to do something I thought I would have no interest in simply to experience that which I derided. I have to admit that I was wrong and have seen the benefit of it. I have enjoyed immensely getting caught up with past friends. Seeing the profiles and pictures of kids I had in youth group fifteen years ago, or hearing from people I baptized while pastoring in Indiana has been really cool. And being able to have one more avenue of connection with my kids and current friends is also great. It has been cool that because of my Facebook page some folks from my past have gone to our church website and listened to sermons or have read my blog. This phenomenon of modern technology has much potential for some really cool positive things. So what I’m saying is that there is good and bad in most everything. When one learns the secret handshake and becomes a member of the OFC, the tendency is to only look at the bad and negative. Again, not that we should uncritically embrace everything that comes down the pike. But we must make an effort to understand and embrace the good in things that might not come naturally to us.
I’m reminded of what Jesus said when asked about fasting. He talked about the danger of pouring new wine into old, used wineskins. The danger in this, he said, was that the old skins would burst because they don’t have the ability to stretch when the fermenting grape juice expands. Very simply, we need to be able to expand our minds and understanding of new things. How easy it is to get set in our ways and close off our minds to things that are new or things we don’t understand. It’s much easier to stop stretching and growing and thinking. But, like the old wineskin, we become brittle and fragile when we do that. Not that we simply fill our wineskin with every new thing out there. Much of it needs to be rejected as unbiblical, harmful, or simply inane. Yet, there is much which is helpful and new to be examined, analyzed, and digested. The motto of the OFC is “Never Change–If it was good enough in my day, it’s good enough for today!”
Yet we serve a God who does a new thing and wants to make us new creations and has sent His Son to save the world from its sin. We call this the Gospel–the Good News.
So we grow old and get forgetful. It’s a part of life. But we can avoid becoming a grumpy old man or a bitter old woman. As for me. There is still something that keeps me young (in addition to my kids and my wife who is two years my junior yet looks like she is much younger). I still have my motorcycle. I love to ride for many reasons. It makes me feel young and alive and vibrant. It also keeps my mind and reflexes sharp. When you’re going 80 on two wheels every sense you have is engaged (except your common sense, some would argue). There is no auto pilot when you’re riding a motorcycle. It keeps me sharp and feeling alive. I know I can’t ride it right now with all the snow, but I think I’ll go out to the garage and fire her up. Just sitting on that roaring beast will make me feel younger. If only I could find the key.
Chris Higgins 