I have decided that most of my favorite people in life are way way way older than me.
Today I spent the afternoon with a couple in their late 80s. I'd never met them before, and I am not going to lie, I was pretty excited to meet them. I wasn't disappointed. I love the wealth of wisdom, knowledge, and life experience that elderly people have. These particular people came of age in the early 40s and moved to Japan as missionaries in 1949. The deep sadness in her eyes as she talked about everything ordinary Japanese lost during the war resonated deeply with me, as did the wisdom with which she talked about the role of emotion in worship.
Some day I want to be a wise old person with years of life experience under my belt. I want to be one of those old people who young people look to for wisdom and stories of what it was like coming of age at the turn of the century. I want to live in a condo overlooking a beautiful lake and be able to look back on my life with a sure sense of having lived well, fully, and joyfully.
I won't forget these people, even if I never see them again. In a few short hours, they have reminded me of what it means to live a humble life of service to God, and also of what it means to serve God with every breath. Even though they are looking back on the majority of their lives, they are still fully living and serving in the present. In welcoming me into their home today, they touched my life in more ways than they may ever know.
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