"will you still need me...when I'm 64?"
"Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm 64?"
That song filtered through my head last night as I changed a sheet on my bed. I pondered how we exit life as we entered it, in need of someone to care for us, from shopping to cleaning, from cooking to bathing and more. Even the "dreaded chores" of bathroom trips and cleaning up afterwards. How humiliating, you may think. Yet isn't this what true love is all about? It's not just for the good times, it's for all the times in between as well. As a society, we are so focused on beauty and Being Young. You are sold every product on TV and in magazines that scream, "this will take years off your face or body!" Every fad diet is pitched out there, despite doctors who say all you really need to do is to eat right, exercise and get your sleep. Oh sure, there are commercials for "bladder control products," but again, it is pitched in a positive way, with happy people almost as young as I am! But where are the commercials for taking care of an aged one who needs more care, such as a baby would receive? Because age is NOT a curse, it's a reward for a life well lived! Yet it is scorned in our society!
Disrespect is so common, whatever happened to "age before beauty" and "give up your seat for an older person," or "hold that door for that person?" We marvel at celebrities who are 80 but "look" 25. "It's a sin," Dolly Parton once said, "to look older. She went on to say that as long as she had money, she would do what it took to nip and tuck. I don't know what she is seeing in her mirror, but I saw a picture of her with Neil Diamond taken back in 1979 and she looked pretty. In her latest movie, "Joyful Noise," she was heavily made up, with skin so taut, it looked almost painful!
THIS is PRETTY?
Give me an older person whose wrinkles are a map of their time here on earth, because of all they have seen and conquered, oh the stories they do tell! The struggles, the amibitions, the tears and laughter. I took my husband's hand this morning and told him I would still need him and feed him when I am 64 and I meant it! Wrinkles? Imperfect lines around his face? Nah, I am not seeing it! What I do see is a life lived with respect towards his family and friends, compassion in his soul and love within his heart. THIS, my friends, is what we ALL should see when we view folks, not the heavy makeup and "flawless" face. IT is what is inside that counts, the love for others and willingness to sacrifice to make them happier. Not a size 2 body with size DD tops.....
Now, as you go about your day, see what catches YOUR eye the most about people today!
That song filtered through my head last night as I changed a sheet on my bed. I pondered how we exit life as we entered it, in need of someone to care for us, from shopping to cleaning, from cooking to bathing and more. Even the "dreaded chores" of bathroom trips and cleaning up afterwards. How humiliating, you may think. Yet isn't this what true love is all about? It's not just for the good times, it's for all the times in between as well. As a society, we are so focused on beauty and Being Young. You are sold every product on TV and in magazines that scream, "this will take years off your face or body!" Every fad diet is pitched out there, despite doctors who say all you really need to do is to eat right, exercise and get your sleep. Oh sure, there are commercials for "bladder control products," but again, it is pitched in a positive way, with happy people almost as young as I am! But where are the commercials for taking care of an aged one who needs more care, such as a baby would receive? Because age is NOT a curse, it's a reward for a life well lived! Yet it is scorned in our society!
Disrespect is so common, whatever happened to "age before beauty" and "give up your seat for an older person," or "hold that door for that person?" We marvel at celebrities who are 80 but "look" 25. "It's a sin," Dolly Parton once said, "to look older. She went on to say that as long as she had money, she would do what it took to nip and tuck. I don't know what she is seeing in her mirror, but I saw a picture of her with Neil Diamond taken back in 1979 and she looked pretty. In her latest movie, "Joyful Noise," she was heavily made up, with skin so taut, it looked almost painful!
THIS is PRETTY?
Give me an older person whose wrinkles are a map of their time here on earth, because of all they have seen and conquered, oh the stories they do tell! The struggles, the amibitions, the tears and laughter. I took my husband's hand this morning and told him I would still need him and feed him when I am 64 and I meant it! Wrinkles? Imperfect lines around his face? Nah, I am not seeing it! What I do see is a life lived with respect towards his family and friends, compassion in his soul and love within his heart. THIS, my friends, is what we ALL should see when we view folks, not the heavy makeup and "flawless" face. IT is what is inside that counts, the love for others and willingness to sacrifice to make them happier. Not a size 2 body with size DD tops.....
Now, as you go about your day, see what catches YOUR eye the most about people today!
saiah 40:28-31 (NIV) Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles;they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
ReplyDeletethis speaks to me so much and I want to thank you for giving me an idea for MY sermon come Sunday! You have hit that nail square on the head in a way that no one else has had the gall to! Thanks, Rev Baum....(and to the Beatles!)
Oh my dear child...I have been taking care of my wife for two years now. She has Alzheimer's and something more: she is alcoholic. Now I have someone drinking who really doesn't understand why she craves it or what to do when she is drunk! Yet I clean up after her when she gets sick and vomits, I wash her when she doesn't make it to the bathroom in time, I cook for her, I am responsible for her. Why don't I put her in a "home" my grown kids ask? Because damn it! I LOVE HER! She is my WIFE! yet do they do anything to help me? No but they sure love to condemn! Ignorant kids! I will live for her until God takes me. Thank you My dear Reverend for this. You are prayed for often!
ReplyDeleteMay God Bless You, Charles Atens, for you represent the true partners of this world. I only hope I can be as strong as you should I need it. I shall try. Thank You.
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