BLOG 2/22/15. REFLECTIONS UPON MY 87TH BIRTHDAY
Yesterday was my birthday and I got Facebook greetings from scores of friends, and from around the world. One question, that I got frequently was: “What are you thinking on your birthday?” So let me reflect for a while with you. For one thing, I look back on all of those many years, and on the engaging of life with all of its pluses and minuses, joys and agonies, … and all I can see is God’s faithfulness in making each new passage a growth passage—often to my total surprise—and astounding me at how He could answer my outrageous prayers, and walk me into experiences that I could never have imagined. (And, this is not to mention that God provided me with an incredible wife, who was the perfect complement to my fickle personality, and was a remarkable source of wisdom.)
But then, too, I have—for whatever reasons—always had a vision for what kind of influence I would have on those younger than I, or on the next generation. There is a humorous tendency among those of my age to only reminisce on the past, or to share their infirmities. I have certainly lived a whole lot of history, but think that my focus on the emerging generations comes from several psalms that I have recorded in my prayer journals:
“So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.” (Psalm 71:18)
“Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.” (Psalm 102:18)
“The righteous flourish like the palm tree … They still bear fruit in old age.” (Psalm 92:12-14)
Somehow, if my life is not an encouragement and a model for the generations behind me, then I think I have not fulfilled my calling to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, and to make disciples, and to be a resource for those who come after me. The question always comes: Who are the models of wholesome, authentic, New Creation persons to those just emerging into their most formative years? If one is totally centered on his/her own fulfillment, and his/her own accomplishments, or on their survival in distressing circumstances, and responses to impossible challenges … then, those following have no positive models. The apostle Paul was unabashed in saying: “Be imitators or me, even as I also am of Christ” (I Corinthians 11:1). Or: “What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:7).
Or, another factor is that I spent the first twenty years of my teaching career in the church in college and university communities, where I was continually confronted with a younger set of men and women, who were insistent with their questions, and challenging when they saw contradictions and inadequacies in me and my teachings. I learned from them, and was refined by them. For whatever reasons, I have been energized and motivated by keeping my focus on, and my passion for the emerging generation, … and that keeps me excited about tomorrow.
Or, maybe one more ominous and haunting reason is: somewhere back in my reading I have retained a quote (which I cannot track down, or Google, but I certainly did not invent it). It was a reflection on the life of someone who had recently died: “… and someone asked: ‘What did his life mean?’ And the answer came: ‘It meant nothing at all. He did nothing, and was nothing. His life was like a pool, green-grown and stagnant.’” I certainly do not want my life to be like a green-grown and stagnant pool.
I want my life, to my dying breath, to be forming and energizing the emerging generation. I certainly am learning from them, but I also want them to be blessed and formed by my life and teachings.
Those are my birthday reflections. “The future is as bright as the promises of God.”
