Today I was talking to with a 75 year old woman about the frustrations of aging. The aches and pains, the limited mobility, the failing memory, the sagging skin—all created significant frustration.

We joked about the 98 year old woman who told me the best thing about wrinkles is that they don’t hurt.
Then she became more serious and told me that she just didn’t understand the value of all of this. It is a valid question but maybe there is a reason.

My Dad always told me that he wanted as many birthdays as he could have as long as he knew that he was having them. Over the years, he has collected more than his share of serious ailments. No one loves his family or wants to be with them more than Dad.  So far, he is still hanging in there. But I wonder if he is beginning to question that statement.

Like me, my Dad is a Christian.  We believe in Heaven and that life will be better there than here.  It will be a beautiful reunion, the pain and suffering will go away and the tears will be wiped away from our eyes. Life will be better!

So there in the midst of that conversation, it struck me.  Maybe this horrific thing called aging has a purpose.
It allows us to change our sights from the here and now to the eternal. It reminds us that we are just visitors here and waiting for our trip home.

And most of all, it reassures us that the best is yet to come. For our families it also takes away a bit of the sting of death. When they compare their loss to our gain, only the selfish can wish for the situation to be different.

So what should we do in the meantime?
Remember the answer of Solomon’s riddle.  He asked, “What four words will make a happy man sad and a sad man happy? ‘This too will pass.’”

Love the life you are given, accept the ailments as a badge of honor and remember, your Heavenly Father has a better life ahead of you.

Thoughtfully,
Steve