The Young… And… The Old

SUN., JUNE 4, 1989, 10:35 AM
HAMA’S CABANA, HONOLULU

The worship experience this morning was a unique one, certainly. The children and the youth – the young in the church – were those who led, and a number in the congregation, including your parents, were old. The young leading the old is a nice balance, from time to time.

It did not occur to you as the service progressed, but I tell you that all children are not of the same spiritual age. Some have a much more inherent sense of what God is and means than do others of the same age. These often have a more inherent familiarity with the Scriptures and the stories therein and are less reluctant to be an active part of a service. Performance is not an exact predictor. Some do well because of learned poise and developed self confidence and abilities. Some do poorly but still are old in spirit, which has to be recognized in some other way.

It is not particularly important to discern these differences in spiritual age… just interesting to consider. Spiritual growth is not competitive. Those who progress in rapid ways are not more… or less… valuable than those who take many “lifetimes” to understand the meanings of spiritual life.

Meeting some older people of long ago acquaintance was a pleasant aspect of the morning. Talking with Joe brought forth an invitation to sing with the choir next week, which should be a joyous revisiting of a long-ago Central Union experience. When you sang before, you were young. Now you are among the old, though not yet ancient. Doris is a fine servant of Mine, and it is good to keep in touch with her. Send her a Christmas letter… perhaps even a Ruminations. Consider.

Continue the reading of Bernie’s book, but know that spirit is even more important than he portrays it to be. All old people must eventually die, but the readiness to die or the capacity to sustain life longer is much a matter of spirit. It rarely makes much difference when an individual dies, particularly when it is a matter of this week or next… even this year or next. Old people with well developed, mature spirits can be valuable to those younger for as long as they live… or they can die in ways that ennoble the spirits of the younger. Conversely, those whose spirits have not developed or have even regressed can make life miserable for those younger or can die in pitiful ways. There is a great range in the way people die, and the major influence is spirit.

There are many ways to learn. The young can learn from the old, and the old from the young. The young can learn from one another, and so can the old. A person at any age can learn from self, in a variety of ways. Each of you has so much knowledge of which you are not aware, and it is important to learn how to learn from yourself. The younger one is when she acquires this capacity, the more fortunate.

When any population is divided into just two categories, such as the young and the old, each segment is quite varied. The young includes babies, small children enjoying their singing, youth who are more self conscious, and even the parents of these young young. The old commences with the parents of adolescents, grandparents such as you are, and then those who hang on to earth life, desperately to joyously.

A comparable division could be made along spiritual lines. Some young spirits are new, while others have made little progress toward enlightenment. Some old spirits have developed well and also rapidly, meeting challenges and taking opportunities galore, in even one “lifetime.” Others have been slow and irregular, advancing and then regressing, but finally coming to appreciate the life of spirit. In chronological age there are advantages both to being young and to being old. There is little value in remaining a young spirit… for any longer than necessary.