One of my favorite scenes in the Bible is the funeral scene of Abraham in Genesis 25:8-10. We begin by reading that verse.
“Then Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah. There Abraham was buried, and Sarah his wife.
That is the way to go – in a good old age, surrounded by your people, and buried by your children.
When you have lived for a few decades, you think about what it means to get old. One man wrote a poem (H.S. Fritsch) that has helped me through the years. I want to share that with you now. Perhaps it will bless your life.
Age is a quality of mind.
If you have left your dreams behind.
If hope is cold,
If you no longer look ahead,
If your ambitions’ fires are dead
Then you are old.
But if from life you take the best
If in life you keep the jest,
If love you hold;
No matter how the years go by,
No matter how the birthdays fly –
You are not old.
I didn’t wrote that poem, but they resonate with me.
Lonnie Davis