Never too old
“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” CS Lewis.
On Sunday my Dad was ordained as an elder at his local Church of Scotland. His role is described on their website as
elder - one of a group of voluntary, ordained leaders – responsible, along with the minister, for the spiritual and practical aspects of local church life and for local church government
We went along to support him on what was a very important day for him. He was nervous but looking forward to the challenge and full of enthusiasm for the work that the minister and her team will be doing. He has sat through many graduation, school and other award ceremonies for us – and it was great to see him up there at the front.
Oh – and by the way – he will be 78 this year.
In spirit of course the “elders” in any organisation – religious or otherwise – come with a breadth of life experience which is often undervalued. I love the notion that he is actually the “newbie” – and he might have to make the tea and do the photocopying for a while.
Hi Jackie, Wonderful news about your father. We so need people of every age involved in our spiritual development – God knows we don’t get any help from popular culture. The older I get, the more value I see in respecting the wisdom that comes with age. This sounds like a joke, but I’m not kidding. I’ll bet your dad can give guidance and insight in a matter of a few simple words. How do you even put a value on that?
Hi Brad. I am fortunate that both of my parents are the kind of people whose guidance and wisdom is sought by others – not just in the family. And neither of them would see that they had anything special to offer….
The value is in the benefit to others of course – and measuring that is notoriously difficult.
Now putting young people how have inspiring unconstrained ideas together with elderly mentors- and what a change that could bring to the world.
Love it. My dad always wanted me to be an elder..I told him I am not old enough.
David – that made me laugh. It’s not about age is it. Knowing otu as I do and your work with young people we know that too…