Older
I'm older now. I'm older than last year, older than last month, older than when I got up this morning. What does older really mean? Some people think that older means wiser. In theory I'm sure that could be true, but it doesn't always turn out that way. I think that you need older with intent. I see older people all the time who are making the same ridiculous destructive and debilitating mistakes that they were making ten years ago. Older with intent means that you are an observer of life. You are a life long learner. Moment by moment you are learning what is important, relevant and life giving and filtering out the nonsense. You are living intentionally instead of anonymously bumping through life and relationships with no purpose. Much has been written in the past few years about purpose driven living. Far be it from me to rain on anyones parade, or book sales, but I don't think it is complicated enough to warrant books, bible studies, DVD's and study guides. Living with intent is simply getting up each day realizing that you can affect someones life for good or bad, you get to choose. It's your task, as Indiana Jones was advised, to "choose wisely". Obviously faith has everything to do with it. It's really simple though. No faith, no future. No future; why bother?
Like I said, I'm older now. I'm much older than my mind would have me comprehend. I'm a 20 year old with a body that is 20 years beyond that. I realize this every morning when I try to get out of bed. I realize it every night when I get up off of the floor after watching Seinfeld. I wish that my body were a bit younger. I also wish my mind were a bit older. I was reading the Bible this morning regarding wisdom. I learned something pretty clear, in fact it was spelled out in the concordance. I learned that wisdom doesn't come with age, but it sure helps. It does come by experience, mixed with something else. It also comes with intent. I'm much older and a little wiser that I was when I began this journey called ministry. I can look back with embarrasment at some of the stupid things that I did which were a direct result of my age, or lack of it. Fortunately I can look at today and see things that I've done differently because of those mistakes. I also see some that I obviously didn't learn from. But in all of it, I do see one major thread in the difference between learning and repeating. It's called intent. Don't grow old without it.
Like I said, I'm older now. I'm much older than my mind would have me comprehend. I'm a 20 year old with a body that is 20 years beyond that. I realize this every morning when I try to get out of bed. I realize it every night when I get up off of the floor after watching Seinfeld. I wish that my body were a bit younger. I also wish my mind were a bit older. I was reading the Bible this morning regarding wisdom. I learned something pretty clear, in fact it was spelled out in the concordance. I learned that wisdom doesn't come with age, but it sure helps. It does come by experience, mixed with something else. It also comes with intent. I'm much older and a little wiser that I was when I began this journey called ministry. I can look back with embarrasment at some of the stupid things that I did which were a direct result of my age, or lack of it. Fortunately I can look at today and see things that I've done differently because of those mistakes. I also see some that I obviously didn't learn from. But in all of it, I do see one major thread in the difference between learning and repeating. It's called intent. Don't grow old without it.