The Beauty of Aging

Against all that is said, time does not pass. It is we who pass. While passing, the believer reaches the peak of the horizon, the moment when the old gets filled, as the Bible says, with “wealth, glory, and a solid fortune” (Prov 8:18). Stretching this idea farther, we might say, always according to the Bible, that it is precisely in this high watch that man appears clothed with security, wisdom, and balance.

The elderly can repeat each dawn “today is the first day of the rest of my life”.

Every moment is a lasting present wherein I am building, stone by stone, the kingdom as the threshold of “new heavens and the new earth,” as the eve of the fullness and consummation of the “Parousia.” For all that, we can well say that age does not exist. It is as though everything is just beginning today.

In the meantime, we are in the now, which is a favorable opportunity. Although nature breaks down, it is necessary to believe with joy in the spirit as Psalm 91 describes beautifully: “The just will flourish like the palm tree, he will grow like the cedar of Lebanon. He will flourish in the atriums of our God; he will still be fruitful in old age, in days full of sap and vigor.” It is a resplendent horizon for any elderly believer.

Extracted from the book “The Force of Decadence” by Father Ignacio Larrañaga.