I Want to Grow Old

Photo from pexels.com
The other day I watched a silly movie with my wife called Last Vegas with Morgan Freeman, Michael Douglas, Robert De Nero and Kevin Kline. It is not my usual type of movie, a bit rude in places, but only rated 12 so no need to panic! It explores the relationships of life long friends who are now octogenarians, so as you can imagine there is a fair amount of reminiscing about the good old days.

The thing that struck me was that - I want to grow old!

This may sound like a revolutionary statement. We are constantly being told we need to stay young. Buy the latest youth serum to keep your skin looking youthful, fight the seven signs of aging and do everything you can to cover up those grey hairs - because you're worth it!

But I have come to realise, being diagnosed with cancer, that this is all a load of rubbish! I want to grow old. I never even contemplated that this would be a desire in my life. Somehow it was inevitable. I was always going to grow old. I was always going to be around for as long as the world would have me. Surely everyone gets old! Well, maybe not.

There is much to be said about living for the future, for setting goals and pursuing dreams. I still have dreams that I am pursuing. But I am also looking more closely at the here and now. Right here in the everyday and the mundane. In the grit of living real life - right here, today - right now. It is often a cliche to say 'live every day as if it were your last ', but what if it was? Would you do anything differently? Would you focus more or less of your energy and time on a particular thing or person? What really matters?

I want to grow old. I realise this stage of life terrifies many people which is why we work so hard to put it off for as long as possible. Yes, it may come with added hardships, with extra aches and pains, with bodies that no longer function like they used to. We might forget things more easily or get a disease like Alzheimer's. It may also signify being fewer steps away than we would like to eternity - but let me tell you, you are as close to death right now than you ever will be. You never know when your time may come.

The Bible speaks of old age in quite a different way than we view it in society today. Those in old age are to be honoured and respected. They are to be listened to as they have wisdom we can all benefit from. Proverbs 16:31 "A heat head is a crown of glory; it is found in the way of righteousness"; Job 12:12 "Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days." So yes - I want to grow old!

My wife will tell you that I haven't been one to make much of celebrating my birthday. It all stems from my secondary boarding school education where people would make your life highly unpleasant if they discovered it was your birthday. You learned to keep your mouth shut and your head down and treat the day as you would any other in order to avoid any unpleasantness. However, this experience has shown me that this attitude needs to change.

Life is precious.
Life is a gift.
Life is certainly worth celebrating!

So I will mark each day with a prayer of thanks for the opportunity and privilege of living it and I will celebrate life whenever I have the opportunity, even if it means eating cake!

Comments

  1. Jan3 September 2016 at 15:24

    This is such a well expressed item Matt, a feeling that hit me too when I knew I had cancer. I was much older than you but I suddenly knew I didn't want to leave this world yet, I wanted the full experience. We are praying regularly that you will have that full experience, and enjoy the ride!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Matt Mcc21 September 2016 at 09:10

      Thanks Jan. It is amazing how things like this force us to think about things we usually would avoid.

      Delete
  2. Unknown3 September 2016 at 20:22

    I'm praying you get to eat lots of cake! You are inspiring me so much with your revelations. I am surrounded by people suffering from cancer or who have survived it. I pray that you are completely healed by the blood of Jesus because I believe you have so much to more to teach us.

    ReplyDelete
  3. A dogsbone - to CHEW on, to PICK on...4 September 2016 at 04:37

    Yes I agree. I've been praying that my Sister ( in Newcastle upon Tyne) who suffered cancer few years ago will grow old to be a grandmother and great grandmother ! We are celebrating my Mother in law's 88th birthday soon and she's a great Grandmother to many ! It is indeed a joy especially she is healthy at that age! She too nearly died of heart Attack! But the daily queues of grandchildren at the hospital revived her! I prayed for you to be a great granddad too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Matt Mcc21 September 2016 at 09:12

      Thanks for the prayers, fasting and supportive messages.

      Delete

Post a Comment

I always love reading the comments and thoughts of others. Please leave your comment in the section below. Thanks.

Popular posts from this blog

Snot and Tears

Image
I have just realised that I only began blogging about my journey with cancer since the diagnosis. There was a period of time while I was waiting for the diagnosis where God did some pretty amazing things and in a way prepared me to cope with what was to come. So I think I will tell you about it here - just so you can see the whole picture, including the snot and tears!
Read more

Are You a F.A.T Leader?

Image
It was some years ago now that I listened to a sermon that has firmly placed itself within my mind and has grown to become one of the cornerstones to my attitude and lifestyle of leadership. In the sermon, the preacher was referring to how we should approach living our Christian lives, but it applies itself equally well to leadership. The acronym F.A.T. was used to highlight 3 key points: F - Faithful Faithfulness can manifest itself in many different ways. Are we faithful to our church and its leaders? Do we contradict any gossip we may hear going on? Do we faithfully attend church functions even when we don't feel like doing so sometimes? Are we faithful to the people we lead? Do we turn up to band practise on time / turn up to help set up the room before a meeting? Do we model the behaviour, dedication and commitment we would like to see in others? Most importantly, are we faithful to God? Do we have a secret lifestyle or habit that contradicts our Christian faith? Will
Read more

Worship Setlist for the New Year

Image
As we enter into a New Year it is an obvious and natural position to ask God what he has in store for the coming year for you personally, and for your church. When selecting a setlist of worship songs for my church, whether it is for a special New Year's eve service where we welcome the New Year in together, or if it is just the first Sunday of the New Year when the whole church is gathering together, I think it is important to ask God if there is a specific song he has in mind for the coming season for your church. This song could be along the obvious lines of 'New Year = New Season' with a sense that we are moving into something new with God, we are progressing in our relationship with Him and becoming more like Him as we grow together in Christ. However, this is not necessarily the case. This year, for 2016 I believe God is moving my church through a transition. A time of pruning has begun and in the coming months we will need to navigate this change and challenge
Read more