What Does Ecclesiastes Teach Us about Getting Old?
Ecclesiastes 11:9—12:8 Psalm 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 and 17 Luke 9:43b-45
By Father Peter Latouf
I have to say that getting old is not fun. My vision every now and then seems not to be as good as it used to be. I’m finding a new gray hair every couple of weeks. The aches and pains that I never used to have are starting to come, and I don’t think it’s all from the stress of being at a brand new parish. I think it’s just something that happens to all of us. We get old, and sometimes it’s not fun.
Ecclesiastes Begins with Youth
I have to admit, though, that I really like the reading from Ecclesiastes that we just heard because it’s exactly what it’s all about! It’s one of those places in the Bible that’s very blunt about getting older. It starts out by talking about your youth. It basically says, “Remember your Creator before the difficult times come.”
And then it starts describing what happens when you get older. “The guardians of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent. The grinders become few. Those who look through the windows grow blind. You become afraid of heights and afraid of things happening in the street.”
But Then It Gets Better
Now if you’re thinking that doesn’t sound very cheerful, just wait. It gets better.
The grinders are few. What is he talking about? He’s talking about our teeth. We get older and we start to lose our teeth.
The people looking through the windows grow blind. That talks about your eyesight.
The strong men being bent? It’s talking about our backs. We get older and hunch over a little bit.
Yeah, when I hear these stories, I think, “Wow! The Bible has been reading our medical charts.” This is scary.
What’s the Point? Eventually We All Have to Realize the Truth
But actually, there’s something pretty good about what God is telling us in today’s reading! It’s definitely not making fun of old age. It’s recognizing something that all of us eventually have to recognize: We aren’t going to stay young forever. It’s true!
When we are 20 years old, we think we’re going to be 20 years old forever. And then suddenly we’re 30 and we think, “Wow! That was quick!” And then, like myself, you just turn 40, and then things start making strange noises when you stand up. Eventually you reach the point where you can’t even get up off the chair without first thinking about how you’re going to do that.
The thing is that our minds generally feel pretty much the same. We still feel like ourselves. I’m pretty sure we can remember in our minds what it was like to be 20 when we still had all these wonderful things that we wanted to do. But the body sends us messages that things are a little bit different, and time continues to act. That’s what the reading is really talking about. The point isn’t: Oh, getting old is so terrible! The point is: Don’t wait until you’re too old to remember God! Don’t wait until you forget, and your mind goes, and you forget about God. Appreciate what you have now. Don’t spend your whole life thinking, “I’ll worry about God later” or “I’ll fix my life later” or “I’ll pray later” or “I’ll go to church later” or “I’ll have more time later.” None of us actually knows how much “later” we’re going to get.
We’re All Going to Have Things in Life That We Don’t Understand…Like Aging
And then the Gospel gives us something very similar. Jesus tells His disciples, “Pay attention to what I’m telling you. The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.” And they don’t understand what He’s talking about at all. Luke said something very human…well, I find it very human…that the disciples didn’t really get this, but they were afraid to ask Him what that means. I love that detail because I think we’ve all found ourselves in that place, too, when somebody explains something to us and we’re sitting there thinking, “I have no idea what they just said. It went way over my head.” But you don’t want to be the one who asks. So, we just kind of nod along and say, “That makes sense,” but our mind isn’t putting it together. The connections aren’t happening as fast as they once did. The disciples are doing the same thing. Jesus is telling them something very, very important about what’s about to happen, and they don’t understand it. But instead of saying, “Lord, what did you mean?” they’re afraid to ask.
There’s a lesson in that for us, too. We’re going to have things in life that we don’t understand. Aging is definitely one of them. Sickness is one of them. Death is a big one. Sometimes God allows things to happen that we simply don’t understand. And we don’t have to pretend like we understand everything.
What we can do is to keep coming back to God. That’s why the psalm says, “Teach us to number our days aright that we may gain wisdom of heart (Psalm 90:12).” Numbering our days doesn’t mean sitting around worrying about getting older every day. It means recognizing that our time is a gift. Right? It is a present. God wants us to enjoy it.
Have your coffee. Talk to someone you haven’t talked to in a while. Go see the grandchildren. Go do those things that maybe you’ve been putting off for a while. Most of all, don’t put God off until later because eventually the teeth…the grinders…start to become fewer and fewer. The windows will get a little bit blurrier. The knees are going to start complaining a little more. And then we realize that Ecclesiastes was right: Our time here really is limited. Knowing that is not supposed to cause fear or anxiety, but is a reminder that my time here is indeed limited, so I’m going to use it well.
God Wants Us to Enjoy the Time We Have Left…and to Use It Well
Today let’s listen to God’s message. Whatever time we all have left here on earth, let’s enjoy life and live it to the full. Let’s use it the best we can. Spend that time with God. Spend that time in prayer for one another, loving one another. Let’s use this very, very precious gift of time by not putting things off. Let us say, “Today, Lord, while I can, I am going to do this.”
We pray for that strength. We pray for the recognition of the gift of time that we’ve all been given, that gift of every single day when we wake up. Always ask yourself every morning, “God, how can I use this time you’ve given me to serve the greater good and to serve Your glory?” I think that when we start thinking that way, the complaints about the aches and the pains start to go away, and instead we realize how blessed we are that we can use this time to treat one another well. Spend your time well, and use your time wisely. I think that is what God is telling us this morning.
0 Comments