Show Respect

“Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God.  I am the Lord.” ~ Leviticus 19:32

Aging.  These days a lot of people try their best to stop the process of aging.  I myself have never fully understood why.  Sure, I don’t necessarily like that I have put on extra weight, or have some lines in my face, or that I am not able to move like I used to, but I am okay with it.  You know why?  I have always viewed aging and getting older as a privilege and wisdom filled.  I am okay with aging because I know I have gained knowledge, experiences and wisdom (both worldly and spiritually) that I didn’t have in my twenties.  I have grown and matured and become a better version of myself comfortable in my own skin and I don’t want to go backwards.  Forwards equals more knowledge and wisdom in Christ.  I have earned my gray hair and consider it “wisdom glitter”.  Some of it was earned through great pain; it’s a badge of honor.  Proof that God brought me to the other side.  We need to turn the world’s negative connotation of aging around.  This verse causes us to look at ourselves and how we treat the aging, or the elderly.  Today’s culture sometimes values youth over age; which is totally contradictory to how the Lord asked and wanted the Israelites to behave.  The elderly were esteemed for their wisdom and knowledge and the younger generations were advised to seek counsel from the elderly so that they could soak in some of that wisdom and knowledge.  Fast forward to the nineteenth century and a lot of us are quicker to ask counsel and wisdom from someone in our own age bracket than to ask our seasoned grandparents for their advice.  I dare say we have lost our zeal for the aging, or elderly.  They are living, breathing encyclopedias full of worldly and biblical wisdom that we should value a lot more than we do.  So let’s teach our children and their children the true value of grandpa and grandma.  Maybe it’s not that we are afraid of growing old; maybe we are afraid of being forgotten.  There is great value in every person, especially those who have lived and experienced life for a long time.  That’s who I want to strive to be; a grandma full of wisdom and experiences to share. ~ Amen