For me, having older people influence my life was very natural. I was fortunate to have a lot of grandparents when I was young. In fact, I had all four of my grandparents and even four great grandparents. They were clearly the central part of our social structure, so I spent a lot of time with them and learned much that has forever shaped who I am today.
Grandad, my dad’s dad, was amazing. He was one of the most remarkable men I have ever known and even though he died almost 17 years ago, he is still one of the major influences in my life. Grandad was an extremely patient and gentle man who seemed to always enjoy life and people. What is so remarkable about him was that for most of the 22 years that I knew him he was handicapped by arthritis. He had countless knee, hip and bone replacements and for as long I can remember, he either walked with a cane or on crutches. He was nearly always in pain from the severity of the disease. But, no one, even my grandmother heard him complain about how his body was wasting away. He truly viewed each day as a blessing and was thankful for all he was given in this life. He adored his family and I am so blessed that my parents spent so much time with them. We were at their house multiple times each week and we would vacation every year with them in Florida.
Let me encourage each of you to take advantage of the time you have with the “grandparents” in your life. If you have kids please go out of your way to have them know and be influenced by the previous generations. You will never regret it. I use the term grandparents loosely because some of you don’t have them. But please head the call to find godly, older people and let them influence you and your children.
I close by saying, thanks Grandad for being such a godly example in my life. I will impart what you imparted to me to the next generations. See ya in heaven.
I have several witty, to my thinking at least, theological comments for this post that I will forebear from typing.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is wonderful to learn from former generations and that we often pay a lot of lip service to it as Americans while rarely following through. One of the men who has greatly ministered to me in my own life was my mother's father. He drove untold miles and spent hundreds of dollars to take me back and forth to different events at Church. I would not be who I am if it weren't for him.
More recently, I have learned from another generation the meaning of love and forgiveness as well as prayer and stillness by reading the accounts of Fr. Arseny. He was a Russian priest who was thrown in the gulags and often ministered to the same men who beat him, stole his food, and mocked him for being a Christian in such circumstances. By perseverance he was a light in the darkest of places. I heartily recommend the book "Fr. Arseny 1893-1973: Priest, Prisoner, Spiritual Father."
Thanks for the good words, Ben. I will check out Fr. Arseny's works. I love the lessons we can learn from those who have gone on before us.
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