Word to the Wise
Saturday, September 26, 2020 - Saturday in the 25th Week in Ordinary Time
[Eccl/Qoh 11:9-12:8 and Luke 9:43b-45]Rejoice, O young man, while you are young and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart, the vision of your eyes; yet understand that as regards all this God will bring you to judgment. Ward off grief from your heart and put away trouble from your presence, though the dawn of youth is fleeting. [Ecclesiastes]
Most of my experience in pastoral ministry has been in a university context and with students between 18 and 30 years of age. But, it is moving to see what happens after those years in the former student parishioners with whom I have remained in touch. Have they been able to follow the "ways of your heart, the vision of your eyes?" I am now experiencing the baptism of their grandchildren! Those who know me well enough, know that I find the best way to experience the perspective that those first years provide to the later years is through the stories that can be told. Indeed, I learn then of antics going on behind my back during my time as a university chaplain: "Remember when we...... We didn't dare tell you because......"
Ecclesiastes advises the young to enjoy their youth because it is fleeting. That is true enough, but I cannot share the pessimism of his vision of old age which seems like that of an abandoned and ruined city. All of life is meant to be enjoyed and that includes "elderhood." If I am still able now at Texas Tech to encourage students to "follow the ways of your heart, the vision of your eyes..." that is a complete joy. If nothing else, it is like those senior citizens (elders) whom I have seen in certain grocery stores who circulate through the store helping people to find what they are looking for in the bewildering variety of items. These "guides" know where things are. If we can teach the younger to know "where things are," then life is completely lived "before the silver cord is snapped..." AMEN