Canadian Mennonite
Volume 11, No. 11
May 28, 2007


Faith&Life

Climbing down the ladder

 

On Nov. 19, 2006, Paul Martin, a retired Mennonite minister, shared the following reflection with the Nithview seniors community in New Hamburg, Ont., during a celebration honouring 50 years of active ministry by Amsey and Leona Martin.

Let me begin with a personal reflection of Amsey, whom I remember when he became part of the Hawkesville (Ont.) Mennonite Church congregation in 1951. He was a young man then, full of spiritual energy, eager to grow in faith and service to the Lord. It was also in that setting that he found his life partner, Leona, and it was my privilege to marry them on Aug. 7, 1954. Since then, they have walked with the Lord in Christian ministry, both in good times and through hard experiences, too.

No longer climbing Jacob’s ladder

For years we have been singing, “We are climbing Jacob’s ladder.” For many years the Martins have been climbing the ladder of Christian ministry in different settings, through changing experiences, sharing their faith and leading others in the pilgrimage of life. Just as the time came for Elijah to give his cloak to Elisha (II Kings 2), so also the time comes when we bless others in leadership by becoming the cheerleaders, encouraging them as they begin to climb their own ladder of Christian ministry.

I remember as a young man working with builders for a few years. I know what it is to climb a 16-foot ladder with a load of bricks on my shoulder, then walk up the roof to the masons who are building a chimney. My memory tells me that it is harder to climb down the ladder than to climb up. When you are climbing down the ladder, you cannot see very well where you are going.

Now the ladder imagery takes on meaning. It is not easy to let go of a way of life that has been primary for years, especially when you can’t see very well where you are going now.

One thought often comes to mind: Does my life still have meaning and purpose? But the heart of the matter is: What does God have in mind for us older adults? Let me say immediately that God’s plan for older people is not simply to be shelved, waiting to die.

There are three things I believe God has in mind for us as older adults:

1. To accept the dynamics of change with a gracious attitude.

There are changes in our lifestyle, our health, our abilities and our responsibilities. We experience the loss of productivity, wages, things, home, and our peers as they die. For some of us, it has even been the loss of a spouse.

I read on the Internet a story about a 92-year-old blind woman who had just been forced to enter a nursing home after the death of her husband of 70 years. The story shows how we deal with change and loss is all about our attitude:

“Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time,” she told the woman taking her to her new room. “Whether I like my room does not depend on how the furniture is arranged. It’s how I have arranged my mind. I already decided to love it. It’s a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice. I can spend the day in bed thinking about the parts of my body that no longer work or I can get out of bed and be thankful for those parts of my body that do work.

“Each day is a gift, and as long as these eyes open I’ll focus on the new day, and all the happy memories I’ve stored away for just this time in life. Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you have put in. My advice is to deposit lots of happiness in your bank account of memories.”

The bottom line in this story is: We must accept change with a gracious attitude. We need to accept our mortality, and not play the games of denial. God wants us to be an example of how to cope with change graciously.

2. To discover who we are, apart from what we do or have done.

When people would ask me who I am, I would say, I am a clergyman, a minister of the gospel, or I am a husband, the father of five children. But God wants me to know who I am apart from all that.

In heaven the thing that will matter is “who I am,” not “what I have done.” God wants me to know that I am one of his blessed children, saved by his grace. That is what prepares me for heaven, not the things that I have done.

3. To demonstrate what it is to be a servant.

When we lived in the win-lose culture, it was so important to succeed. We were taught to be winners—to climb the ladder. In all of that we did not learn much about being servants. But as older people, we are well equipped to be servants.

Jesus is our best example of servanthood. True servanthood occurs when power, rightly achieved, is willingly yielded in the interest and good of others, empowering them for life and service. By others, I am thinking of the younger generations. When speaking of power, I mean experience, knowledge, information, attitudes, wisdom, caring, love and understanding.

Let me say again that as older people we are well fitted to become servants, to become vulnerable, and we can do this now without feeling the need to protect our own turf. To serve the next generation is to believe in them and to give them handles for life. That is what God has in mind for the older adult, and in that way God binds the generations together and completes the lifecycle.

The old musical, Strangers at the Mill, has these wonderful lines:

“It hardly matters what I know,
From where I came or when I go,
Or whom I must forgive.
It hardly matters how I die,
Or whom I am remembered by,
If I have learned to live.”

If you were to ask me what is the most important element in learning to live a confident, well-adjusted life of service, I would say: “To live a life of faith in Jesus Christ, to be thankful, and to learn to forgive yourself and others.”

—Paul Martin

Physical aspects of growing old

 

The human body is a marvel of creation, wonderfully complex and efficient, responding to external stimuli, healing itself, cleansing itself, regulating its multiple functions, and constantly adjusting to changing situations.

In Psalm 139 David recognizes and pays tribute to this when he writes, “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”

But this exceptional and superb piece of creation, subjected to relentless decay and perpetual regeneration, suffers loss of faculties and physical capabilities as, in advancing years, the rate of cellular destruction gradually exceeds the rate of repair. Although our bodies are basically durable and resilient, through many years of use, countless miles of walking, climbing endless stairs, consuming tons of food and barrels of liquids, breathing polluted air, being exposed to extremes of temperature, falls, stress and disease, their ability to fully recover after each onslaught diminishes. Resistance to harmful invasions declines; weaknesses develop; a menu of aches and pains emerges.

It is a well-known paradox that everyone desires to live long, but no one wants to get old. Undeniably, severe age afflictions are hugely injurious to the quality of life.

Happily, the body does not wear out in all places at once. The teeth may be bothersome, so we replace them with new ones; the eyes may dim, so we get lens implants; the ears may fail, so we get hearing aids; the knee-joints collapse, but lo and behold, new ones can be inserted.

The body may also be compelled to compensate for loss of some of its parts, as disease-ridden organs are surgically sectioned or removed. Moreover, the capacity for sustained exertion diminishes, so we break up jobs into smaller portions. A road trip, for example, that used to take three days now requires five, but the reward is in the discovery of new and interesting things along routes travelled many times before at previously higher speeds.

Fighting to resist the declining physical stamina only results in frustration. Applying common sense in diet and exercise, preserving a measure of self-worth by neatness and good personal hygiene, and learning to pace physical activities and involvements, can contribute to coping with the vagaries of aging.

There comes a time in the life of some aging people when physical frailties and illnesses preclude the continuance of independent living. Often this requires leaving family and familiar surroundings, and learning to cope with an institutional environment—daunting even for a healthy, mobile person. How bewildering for a helpless person!

Loneliness sets in when contemporaries die or become incapacitated. Only by drawing on their personal resources of faith, experience and love, is it possible for such individuals to participate actively in the business of living, assisted by the nurture of families, neighbours, churches and communities.

—John Enns

This article was originally published in the Charleswood Mennonite Church e-newsletter, Grapevine.


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