SWIFT

I would like to validate those of you with graying hair today.

I have a coaster on my desk sitting right out front and center for anybody and everybody to see when they come sit in my office. Sometimes I actually push it across the desk so they're sure to not miss it. It is engraved: "No wise man ever wished to be younger."

That is a quote by Jonathan Swift, an essayist who lived in the 17th century. He also said: "It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into" ... and ... "One of the best rules in conversation is never to say a thing which any of the company can reasonably wish had been left unsaid."

Another of his quotes is: "I wonder what fool it was that first invented kissing," so I guess he can't be all that smart.

But it is true that 'no wise man ever wished to be younger.' There seems to be a movement out there that old people are of little-to-no use today. I won't even define what 'old' is because it seems to mean such different things to different people. Most typically 'old' is anyone older than the person who is talking about 'old.' So if you're 32 and you're talking about someone who is 'old,' that 'old' person could be 40. If you're 19, the 'old' person might be just 30. If you're 7, then a teenager probably looks 'old' to you. If you're 60, then the 'old' person is probably in their 80s.

What I have come to find is that true wisdom is not just a matter of learning, but a matter of life. True wisdom isn't in our heads - it's further down - in our hearts. It is from traversing the course. It's from navigating boulders and getting cut. It's from fording rivers and choking on some water. It's from scaling hills and sweating the climb.

It is the life-long journey of seeing truth in the uses and activities of life and bringing that truth into our lives and making it ours.

It is the realization that we cannot do it alone, not without God. It is looking back over our lives and seeing that He has been there all the while.

"Old" is the time, more than any other in life, when minds and hearts turn toward more interior things. I would love to see more Biblical Calebs in the world today - 85 year olds who are pumped about life - ready to grab the sword and take on the enemy - fearless and reckless and full of faith - people whose bodies may have grown older, but whose spirits have grown younger. I hope that's me when I'm 85.

When you ask a 70-year old if he feels 70, he will almost always tell you 'no.' That's because bodies grow old; spirits, not so much. The person inside the body is still the same. And in this sense, we are all young. In relation to eternity, we are all in our infancy.

So buck up, 'old' people. It ain't over. Live. Laugh. Love. Learn. Let go. And if you're not 'old,' ease up, man.

I'm 52 and proud of it. A little gray up top in places, sure. I just hope I don't lose my hair altogether. So far, so good. But if that happens, I'm getting a Jonathan Swift wig. Just be forewarned.

Here's to life - and wisdom.

And be blessed.