Happy Birthday, David!

The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts. Steadfast love and faithfulness preserve the king, and by steadfast love his throne is upheld. The glory of young men is their strength, but the splendor of old men is their gray hair. (Proverbs 20:27-29 ESV).

Family birthdays are always special for me. I always get an opportunity to reflect on the process of aging. Today is David’s birthday. He is thirty-eight today. Way closer to forty than he probably desires; but then, I’m way closer to seventy than I want to be too. As I began to think through this year’s birthday wishes I found the meme of Yoda as an enjoinder to his “son” on a birthday. I must say it seemed to fit my mood today. Not only do I feel like Yoda looks, but I often sound like he sounds. It is strange how easily we can “feel” old. Since David’s wife, Becca, is scheduled to give birth to twins tomorrow morning, I’m sure David can relate, especially to the getting “old” part of birthdays. All of us can. I like to tease when I say “I may not be as good as I once was; but, I’m as good once as I always was.” That may be some of the spirit of the wisdom we see from Solomon in our reading today. He says, The glory of young men is their strength, but the splendor of old men is their gray hair (v. 29). It is wonderful to be strong. It allows us the freedom from the ordinary encumbrances that plague us with aging. However, there is also a blessing that comes with aging. There is a lot of valuable gold from experience that comes with the silver in the hair! We should practice gracefully accepting these positives. Growing old gracefully has its challenges. With age comes the realization of how physically close we might be to the final punctuation mark of our life story. In a very real sense we stand on the brink of eternity. But we should also understand that the final heartbeat is not an end—but a grand beginning. “But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). The God who made us also planned a wonderful future beyond the certainty of growing old and ending our days on earth. We can look forward to that time with anticipation, while learning how to navigate the later years with grace and dignity. So, wherever you are in this counting of years, count on the strength and purpose of God to move you through it with peace and joy. Happy birthday, David! Thanks for the reminder that God is always more than enough!