Some “Elderly” Thoughts

FRI., NOV. 12, 1999, 10:17 AM
FARM, KITCHEN TABLE

A life experience is over… your Mother-in-law, Mabel, is now on her way to California, after a goodly time here with Lenore and you. You are not proud of or pleased with your attitude and behavior toward her. She was, for most of her life, quite a fine, dedicated, sincere servant of Mine, so I do know her well. But she is now quite elderly, with losses galore, of many kinds.

A good part of your discomfort with her was the possibility that you, yourself, could deteriorate in a comparable way and become as dependent as she is. That is a painful thought for you… and it makes the diagnosis of cancer seem to be the better of unfortunate alternatives. Though only on a visiting basis, not day-to-day, you experienced your parents losing aspects of themselves and becoming dependent oldsters. Mabel is not quite as old as they were in their final years, but her losses, now, are comparable to theirs. It is both sad… and expected.

The key to healthy living, at every age, is, of course, adaptation. Among babies and small children the “adaptation rate” is quite high in your culture. Still, there are a few of these youngsters who exhibit disabilities ( 10:35 / 10:36 ) early in life, some life-threatening and some just robbing life of its potential completeness. (The tear-producing story of the young Vladimir with all of his physical disabilities but with a fine mind and a noble spirit was an example of how diverse humans can be, the balance of strengths and weaknesses.)

But the general pattern of human earth life is that the big majority of children and youth, in your culture, at least, adapt well and have some reasonable success and some happiness with and in their developing life. As any age group becomes more elderly more and more are less able to adapt. Weaknesses and losses increase… and now only a few are still healthy and adapting to circumstances that are “too much” for many, if not most, of their age-mates.

You have been a good adapter in this life, but you still are only in your early 70’s. You don’t expect to live on into your 80’s or 90’s, and these months with Mabel affirm that this state of “elderliness” is not at all desirable.

This place, this Farm here in Southern Illinois is an ideal spot for you in these elderly years. The region is not overcrowded, and this place of yours certainly is not. Yet you read of the in ( 10:58 / 11:03 ) creasing population, overall and even in this country, which means more elderly folk, an increasing number kept alive by medical means. You wonder what life will be like for little John Isaac, your youngest grandson. Will his opportunities be lessened by the demands of an increasing elderly population? Will an increase in length of life be an unmixed… or a mixed… blessing? Maybe there will be some way for you to know how this “comes out,” after you move on to the spirit realm best for you. Or maybe you will be concerned only with matters of spirit.

This is the other reason you have little desire to prolong your life further into “disabled and dysfunctional”: I have given you repeated assurance that death is merely “dropping the body” (which includes the poorly functioning brain), with spirit being freed from what is an increasing deterrent to healthy living. The fundamental essence of life is spirit. Coming into a body here in the earth gives your spirit a chance to grow and develop in quite a unique way… but this also includes the possibilities that spirit may be diminished by your earth experiences. So far you are doing well, but you will have some temptations to prolong this earth life. Keep spirit foremost as decision-making situations arise.