What I Didn't Know
Youth is wasted on the young. During a hospital visitation, an elderly woman related to me that, when a person is equipped to live, they have no time left. True.
In days gone by, I had an unbelievable amount of energy but did not always know how to channel same. I may or may not have been going in the right direction, but I was making good time. There is inherent virtue in hard work, but there is much to be said for sharp focus and wisdom in the going. Still, sometimes, it’s good not to weigh all options rationally. A young man recently won the Congressional Medal of Honor for valor on the battlefield in rescuing several wounded men under heavy enemy fire. That is not the act of a rational man.
To the young, elders may seem timid. They tend to be more measured in their approaches having been around the block a time or two. A point can be made on both sides. While best judged in retrospect, some counsel fear and call it wisdom.
Youth experience the glorious zeal and regretful repercussions of walking right in. Law enforcement officials are taught to enter dangerous spaces with care. Those tempted to act hastily should consider the pros and cons of a full-on assault. I have made many unfortunate decisions due to my intemperate spirit. While I don’t have the strength of former days, I do have better plans, more knowledge of God’s Word and a burning within.
When I was young, I couldn’t wait to get older. Now, I wish I was younger. I hear the same themes time and again. We should be careful of such thinking. On the one hand, we can wish our lives away waiting for a time that may never come. In another, we may become mired in regret.
We live our lives as we see fit at the time. The years teach lessons that are unattainable any other way. Occasionally, we have “aha” moments when remembered teaching touches reality, but we usually don’t learn things in advance. It could be that we are always discontent or always displaced- never quite ready for the challenges at hand or prepared for an opportunity that no longer exists.
La, la, la, la, la, la, live for today. It’s the only thing we have. Regret over the past doesn’t equip us for the future. It can inform us, but there are limits to its effect. More often, it inhibits us, makes us hesitant or depresses our spirit. Let it go.
Youth would be wise to heed the long history of the elders, and elders must avoid being bossy-britches. Whatever your age, you are making and will continue to make your own mistakes. That’s what grace is for. Jesus came with salvation, a solution and support. My opportunities today would not have fitted me back then, but there were some things in my past that I did well because of my zeal and fearlessness. Only God can judge me- and He will.
I’ve got work to do. The gospel call I accepted in my youth is incumbent today. I have changed, but it has not. The question is, “How do I pursue my tasks as the sun goes down?” I know now what I didn’t know then. Well, in part.
Some things, I wish I didn’t know now, but that’s the nature and grief of living. My Bible tells me we all have a part to play in God’s great plan and use the strengths of youth and age as they apply. Respect is due both, but neither is complete in itself.
We are doomed to live incompletely and imperfectly in the present state waiting for a future day of consolidation. On that day, the pieces will fit together, and we will comprehend what today we accept by faith.
Sterl
