A “Picture” Of Old Age

FRI., MAR. 17, 2000, 7:50 AM
FARM, STUDY

Yes, o son, last evening you again experienced the “picturization” of old age, during the period of one summer. I say “again” because you have watched this video a number of times, but now it becomes more “personal.”

In the story Norman is older than you are now, but retired and obviously losing both mental and physical “faculties.” Though you are younger you also are experiencing losses, with a combination of acceptance and reluctance similar, at least, to Norman’s. On the one hand it is hard to accept that you can’t do what you have done well earlier in life. Yet it is a sign of good “elderly health” when you do what you still can… with some joy in continuing life.

Yet I, Holy Spirit, tell you that one of the challenges of eternal life is to live these latter years as fully, spiritually, as you remember living the more active years. Come back when you can.

( 8:08 / 12:50 )

Welcome back! So added to this rerun of “elders” with her daughter, Chelsea, about the age of some of your sons, is this article in U.S. News… about Americans in their 40’s, as two of your sons are, with one dying in his mid-40’s. You have no desire to re-experience that time of life, but you do look back on it with good feelings.

The major difference that you perceived, between your life now, and that of the Thayers, in the video, is that you have quite a rich spiritual life while they were not portrayed as having any, with Me, at least. You perceived spirit in the old couple, in their love of that place, on the “Pond,” in their interactions with each other, and in the developing relationship with their “grandson-to-be.” You sometimes wonder (though less often now than in earlier years), how it would be to have kept your Kentucky Lake place. The reality, of course, is that you and Lenore chose to buy and live on this Farm, which then became that mixture of home and vacation place. So, now that you are retired, as Norman was, you have this fine place, with its responsibilities, which you reconsider more often, as you age. How long shall you have cattle?

Now… back to “the Pond.” The mental lapses that Norman experienced are a portent of your continued life, as you anticipate it. You doubt that you could carry on even one class for a semester, at this point in your life, let alone 3 or 4. And you realize, also, that you’ve almost lost the desire to be “professional” again. You did appreciate Dixie’s asking you to join her committee, but you certainly wouldn’t want to have major responsibility for this study.

Yet you realize that these “lapses” of memory and of thinking capacity will increase, and you don’t have much desire to have a body that lives on beyond normal mental functioning. You hope you have, should you reach Norman’s age, some of the spirit that he displayed, but energized, of course, by a continuing relationship and Friendship with Me, Holy Spirit. I hope that you continue to accept that as mental and physical capacities diminish, spirit can grow and become more “dominant” (which means, of course, a greater and more comfortable perception of death, and the transition this embodies).

Norman talked about his life and his approaching death in sardonic and close-to-bitter ways. It is not inappropriate for you to make reference to your coming “change of scene,” for you do see it as quite a desirable, joyful, and fulfilling “change of status.” You can talk about it as you would “going to Durango” or “a trip back to Hawaii”. There are obviously some differences, but, though you love and appreciate this place (and are choosing to stay here rather than make other summer journeys) it shall be good to gather with the larger family… and to revisit that “beginning place” for this fine adult life of yours.