Skip to main content

Wisdom of the Aged

Older people know something that I don't. I have heard often of the man who says what he is thinking, regardless of his audience, airing his thoughts on any subject that happens to quicken his anger or passions. Sons and daughters quickly shush old men like this for fear of offense, and strangers cast sideways glances, dismissing them as senile. Still, these men know something that I don't.

They know that the opinions of others are no threat to them. They know that they will go on living in spite of the anger roused in others by their beliefs; and they know that one's beliefs can as easily be shaped by others if he or she is not careful to define them oneself. These men may lack prudence, but they have wisdom. They may express indifference, but they radiate certitude.

There is a balance to be had, I suppose, and a time and place for everything; but in a climate rife with sensitivity to the politically correct, it can be both comic and telling to watch one of these older men rail against whatever happens to anger them. I believe we have something to learn from men or women like these. We can learn that convictions are a form of expression, a boundary stake in the wilderness of public opinion that defines where others end and we begin. If one dares to go further, to lay claim to the truth of his convictions, this expression can also be a rebellion, for no man lays claim to truth without being confronted by competing claims.

As one of the fearful ones, I want to learn to balance consideration with candor, empathy with self-actualization; to grow into and remain a man of conviction, while holding to the truth that others' perspectives-- learned through their own trials and experiences--hold the same weight and consequence as my own.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Nice Guy Fallacy

I read part of a poem recently by one of my favorite poets. It reads: I envy not in any moods The captive void of noble rage The linnet born within the cage That never knew the summer woods. I envy not the beast that takes His license in the field of time Unfetter'd by the sense of crime To whom a conscience never wakes. Nor what may call itself as bles't The heart that never plighted troth But stagnates in the weeds of sloth Nor any want-begotten rest. I hold it true, whate'er befall I feel it, when I sorrow most 'Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all. At base, Tennyson contrasted a life of risk, and consequent pain, with one of security. He sides conclusively with the life of risk, and says he fails to envy those who have faced no hardship. I agree with him; and, for good or ill, his words are just as relevant today as they were in the nineteenth century. Like then, there are those today who choose to live their lives with as little risk as...
2 comments
Read more

Heroes

Although we have several examples of heroes in our day, one of the best known is of a woman named Agnes Gonxhe Bojaxhiu (“Gonja Bojaju”), who devoted her life to sustaining the “poor, sick, orphaned, and dying.” Her venue was Calcutta, India, where she served as a teacher until she began to take notice of the poverty there. Seeking to do something about it, she began an organization that consisted of just thirteen members at its inception. Called the “Missionaries of Charity,” the organization would eventually burgeon into well over 5,000 members worldwide, running approximately 600 missions, schools and shelters in 120 countries; and caring for the orphaned, blind, aged, disabled, and poor. As her personal work expanded, she traveled to countries like Lebanon, where she rescued 37 children from a hospital by pressing for peace between Israel and Palestine; to Ethiopia, where she traveled to help the hungry; to Chernobyl, Russia, to assist victims of the nuclear meltdown there; and to ...
2 comments
Read more

Haiti 2012

In case anyone would like to help this trip, or would like to know what we will be doing, here is my support letter for our Haiti trip in June. February 11, 2012 Dear Friends, Family, and Fellow Believers: Last year, a group of eleven people traveled to an orphanage in southern Haiti called the Hands and Feet Project. During the week we were there, we witnessed poverty, disease, and overcrowding. We heard stories of abandoned children, natural disaster, and the uncertainties and isolation of missions work. We felt tangibly the confusion of a country wracked by hopelessness and overwhelming difficulty. In the midst of it all, however, we experienced something more. We witnessed the hope of future orphanages and clean water, heard stories of unity and compassion for children left behind, and felt tangibly the love of God for the people of Haiti through a group of unified people whose goal is to serve him. It was these experiences of hopefulness that left many of us change...
Post a Comment
Read more