Well, here I am... sitting on the lounge and soaking up the last evening of my twenties. I'm kind of excited about it. (I feel like still being excited about your birthday is quite an un-thirtyish way to be... but I'm OK with it!) I've celebrated a few thirtieth birthdays with my friends over the years, and it's often been described as both a "celebration and commiseration," Celebration because, naturally, it's a birthday, and a milestone at that. Commiseration because, well, we're getting older. Clearly older. This is a whole new decade!
I can understand this. Our society loves and celebrates youth. Not only the wrinkle-free, rosy-cheeked appearance of youth, but also its attitudes and characteristics. An intensity in living life; a ravenous exploration of the world and our place in it. A vitality and energy in our pursuits. The years ahead stretching out limitlessly before us, brimming with potential and possibilities. Whereas, growing older seems to be marked by slowing down, the loss of energy and youthful beauty, and being gradually labelled as "old-fashioned", "out of touch"... no longer "cool" or "relevant," or any combination of these. *
"Don't get old," older people often tell me. "There's nothing good about getting older."
So yep, I get it. But I'm resisting. In fact, I'm thankful for getting older.
...because each year is a gift from God. The exact quote has escaped me, but I'll never forget Belinda Emmett (the actress who died at 32 of cancer back in 2004) saying that it was hard hearing friends complain of getting another year older, when she knew she may never get to be that age. Every day, every moment, every year is a gift. Even with the inevitable ups and downs, there are few people who deny that life is good. A good gift.
...because, contrary to what so many voices tell us, there is much to be celebrated about age. Our Western Aussie culture might have a love affair with youthfulness, but it has not always been so - and isn't so elsewhere in the world, even today. In other cultures in our world (and in most cultures in the past), it is older people who are celebrated. Youth is considered to make one irrational, immature, tempestuous, unreliable... still in need of teaching and discipline. But age is respected. Older people are considered to be wise, disciplined, experienced, and worthy of society's respect. Without suggesting we flip society on its head (and I definitely think young people have a lot to offer!), I think there is a lot to be said for this view of age. I have learned, and continue to learn, so much to learn from godly older people, who have lived through the ups and downs of life, and often have a stability, wisdom and experience which is hard to replicate in youth.
... and (most importantly), because this life isn't all there is. I firmly and joyfully believe that there is life which goes beyond our life on this earth. Everlasting life, which Jesus has secured for us by dying in our place, on a cross. He died to defeat our great enemy, and the unspoken ally of human aging and decay of our bodies, Death. In our insatiable desire for life on our own terms, we all ended up losing our lives. No one escapes death. But Jesus came to give life... if only we believe it, and follow him.
In light of this, aging definitely loses its sting. Don't get me wrong, times of grief still come, as we, and the people around us that we love, grow older, experience the decay of aging, and eventually die. But what joy comes with the reality that even death is not the end for those who trust in Jesus! And it gives a certain beauty to every moment, every day, and every year that God gives us life here on earth.
Another moment of enjoying the good gifts that he gives.
Another day of experiencing his daily mercy, grace and relentless love.
Another year of seeing a little more of the breathtaking and mysterious ways in which he is works - to bring about his kingdom, bring more people into his family, and make us, his children, look gradually more like Jesus.
I love God so much for this. It's overwhelming sometimes to realise in just how many ways I still need to grow and change... but looking back over the last decade, I can see so much of his grace to me. I can now see how he's guided me, even though I had no idea at the time! I can see how much work he has actually done, in love and wisdom, and how he has grown and changed me, even if that work isn't finished yet... and even though it's been painful at times, it is so worth it.
In this light, growing older gives me much more confidence, knowing that my life is in such safe hands.
And I wouldn't go back to twenty for anything.
*I'm aware that this paragraph is full of generalisations. Apologies for that, but I definitely intended to speak only in generalities... Every person is wonderfully different - young and old!
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