It is a strange thing in our culture. We seem to idolize the young and want to ignore or discard the elderly. In the eastern cultures, the elderly are revered. Here they are often put away out of sight in a nursing home and rarely visited.
Yet, it is the elderly who have seen how rabid idealism can drown logic, how the desire for the material and power has destroyed people, countries and the very land of our earth.
It is the elderly who have experienced death of their loved ones, disease, disappointment, heartbreak and the results of good and bad decisions.
All of those years and all of those experiences have molded and strengthened them endowing those who have learned with the gift of wisdom.
So, whom do the young people usually ask for advice? Mostly, they seek their friends and colleagues; rarely their grandparents.
Maybe it is time for us to rethink the position of the elderly in our lives. Maybe it is time to ask our older friends to help us find our strength in developing our wisdom instead of our bodies.
Perhaps the learning of the elderly can influence our use of the material so that it becomes a tool to strengthen our compassion and charity and not be the end in itself.
All of those years and all of those experiences have molded and strengthened them endowing those who have learned with the gift of wisdom.
So, whom do the young people usually ask for advice? Mostly, they seek their friends and colleagues; rarely their grandparents.
Maybe it is time for us to rethink the position of the elderly in our lives. Maybe it is time to ask our older friends to help us find our strength in developing our wisdom instead of our bodies.
Perhaps the learning of the elderly can influence our use of the material so that it becomes a tool to strengthen our compassion and charity and not be the end in itself.