Long Life and Understanding

Job asks in, Chapter 12:12  "Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?"

My response is, yes Job, it does. We have  a rich resourceful reserve in our senior citizens. They have seen world wars, great depressions, the invention of telephone and television, and the challenge of placing a man on the moon. They have lived through fears and circumstances we may never encounter in our lifetime.

They have labored in flat farm fields under scorching suns. They have enlisted to allow the family back home one less to feed. They have been sent to foreign soil. They have fought for freedom in the air, on the beaches, and from trenches.

They have sat in school houses where they learned letters and numbers in one room, from one teacher, over twelve years. They learned for tomorrow. They listened with hope. An education meant survival.

They have done without in order that their children and families be with. They built their homes and paid them off. They could count the number of automobiles owned in a lifetime on one hand. They had their Sunday best, and it lasted, and was worn for decades because their strong, healthy frames never changed.

Humble, yet proud, they joined their families over Sunday meals and prayed, heads bowed, hands clenched.  They stressed the importance of dining together. They knew where the kids were and what they were doing. They praised good behavior and disciplined the bad. Their children dare not disappoint them.

Psalms 92:14-15 reads, "(The righteous) "will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, "The Lord is upright; he is my Rock," The elderly of this nation are our "rock" too. They can stay "fresh and green" by our honoring them. They can and will give good and wise counsel if we only ask and listen.

Job is right, isn't he? Long life does bring understanding... appreciate the wisdom of the elderly. M

(This is the 1 year, 1 month anniversary of my father's passing. I dedicate this to the generation of my husband and my parents and grandparents.... honor and respect them.)