The Myth of Ageing
How often have you heard the saying, ‘It’s only a number’, as people focus on an upcoming birthday that seems to be a transition from one stage in life to another? The line from one decade of life to the next is an old phobia that manifests an anxiety about heading toward a dreaded ‘older stage of life’.
I suggest that the number is more than just a value describing where we are in this year; but, singularly, a depiction of our journey from our birth to our future days. Let’s see what this can mean.
A few days ago, I reviewed my voice mail messages and was alerted to an unanticipated upcoming event. The caller identified herself as a member of a committee working to plan the high school reunion for members of the class of 1956 having graduated from Wakefield High School. The caller was checking to see that they had correct information about my current address for future information purposes. Indeed, I was immediately reminded about the many years that have passed from the carefree days in high school with only an innocent eye on the future. And, that short brief message reminded me also that age is more than a number – in fact age is an indicator of what has been the history of my life.
I am blessed, in my perspective on life as a faith follower, that many events have occurred in a distinctly eclectic way that is nearly inscrutable. For example, I matriculated at Bowdoin College in 1956 since Bowdoin was the only school that granted me admission.
After graduation, I looked at graduate school, and sought employment first to determine a professional direction. Thence, after serving in the US Army for a brief period, I began working as a mathematician learning new skills in computer programming. I met a young woman who was destined to change my life entirely.
I put off graduate school, began married life, and settled into a mundane rhythm of life of work and family.
But, the eclecticism of my life reappeared. I reviewed my thoughts about graduate school and worked toward an MBA at Babson College in 1969. This was followed by my volunteering for tasks, along with my wife, in our local Catholic Church. A short time later, I applied to the Archdiocese of Boston to the new program – the Permanent Diaconate. This program was an outgrowth of the changes occurring in Catholicism after the Second Vatican Council. I was admitted and, after three years of training, was ordained as a deacon in 1976.
Whew!
Now, some 34 years later, I have retired from professional work in the computer industry and am serving the church as a deacon in myriad ways.
Back to the notion of age as noting the journey of life, I cite this example. Recently, I officiated at the marriage of one of my nieces whom I baptized some 30 years ago.
It is another manifestation of the eclecticism of my life journey over the seventy plus years that I have experienced joy, birth, sadness, death, and new life.
I confront the myth that age is but a ‘number’.
For me, age is the notable reminder to cherish what has transpired and to continue on the path of hope and faith in an inscrutable set of future events.
