“We do ourselves and others a disservice when we make old age something to be feared.  Life is not a resource to be used up, so that the older we get, the less life we have left.  Life is the accumulation of wisdom, love and experience of people encountered and obstacles overcome.  The longer we live, the more life we possess.”
— Harold Kushne

I read the words again and again, thinking about them from many different context. Where I ended up was really thinking about how desirous it is, by human nature, to have what we perceive we do not have. Age is but one of them. The young to be old(er) and the old to be young(er).

When I was in third grade I wanted to be in fourth because they got to go a different area on the playground.
When I was a freshman in hight school I remember wanting to be old be old enough to drive.
Even now there are racquetball tournaments I can’t play because I’m old enough.
It’s an endless list, really.

How many times, when I was younger, did I wish to be older because I thought that I would have more? More money. More wisdom. More freedom. More passion. More ability. More love. Not always more things, but simply more. More is better… in the right context.

This morning I am reminded how I have found joy in the things that Kushne reminds me that I have accumulated, in particular, the people encountered and the obstacles overcome. Those are things that get me excited about each day because that is where I find the true value of who I am am. The good “more”. The people and obstacles I encounter represent opportunities to grow closer to God. They are different now than when I was younger because of God’s divine timing.

What is that old sage wisdom from Peter Parker’s father? “With great power comes great responsibility.”

I have power because only I can share the unique combination of people and events that I have experienced. No one else has lived through this life. It is an ongoing project that is God-given. And probably not so I can sit here at my desk and reflect on them in solitude. Not so I can look only backwards. And surely not so that I can look forward, no matter my age, with narrowed vision. And what about you? God wants me to partake in the treasure that is each of you.

I can’t run as fast as I used to. And many times my mind seems resistant to recalling certain facts and names and faces. But, oh, I have so much, much more for which to be thankful for than I had even a year ago. Things that I was incapable of being thankful for in my youth. And 10, 20, 30 years from now I will have exponentially more things to be thankful for.

“A cheerful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”
– Proverbs 17:22, NIV