It’ll Be Alright!
Dan Kunz
How old would you be, if you didn’t know how old you were? Any time the topic of age and aging comes up, I like to throw out that question and watch people’s faces. Usually, the person looks confused and perplexed for a moment, followed by a growing look of recognition. What’s important is how old you feel and what you’re capable of doing, not a date on your birth certificate.
We’ve all seen 80-year-olds who act 40 (or younger) and 40-year-olds who act 80. That is very evident in today’s news cycle. You may have recently seen President Biden trip and fall while crossing a stage or struggle to put a coherent sentence together after being asked a question by a reporter. Just the other day, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell stared off into space for at least thirty seconds, after being asked a simple question. (Aging doesn’t have a political party!) On the other end of the spectrum, Mick Jagger continues to “strut his stuff” on stage before packed houses and Harrison Ford just starred in yet another Indiana Jones movie. All four of them are approximately the same age.
Good health, vitality, and mental acuity are all great blessings from God. Certainly, we can do things to maintain an active lifestyle and fight off the effects of aging, but ultimately, even the most physically and mentally capable people will succumb to the inevitable. Aging, eventually, catches up to all of us. My recent shoulder surgery is a reminder that bodies and body parts wear out. As I, unfortunately, found out, even replacement body parts wear out!
My dear friend, Wally, sometimes drives me crazy with his ever-present optimism. “It’ll be alright,” is his mantra. He’s often right. What I see as a “big deal,” after an hour, or a day, or a week, does turn out alright. The reason he drives me crazy is that, in the moment, it doesn’t feel as if it’s going to be alright. That’s where our Christian faith comes in. Although we, or as mentioned above, those in charge, might show signs of aging and maybe even losing capability, that is never the case with God.
Even Edie Ceccarelli, who at 115 years old is the oldest living American, can’t do some of the things she used to do. Amazing indeed, but not invincible! That’s not the case with our God. My mom finally quit bowling at the age of 88. Right this minute, God could still bowl, if he wanted to, and he’s a lot older than that! Seriously, God never trips and falls because his legs don’t work as well as they used to when he created the world. He never forgets who we, his dear children, are. He remembers our name, where we live, and what we need. Most importantly, he remembers his plan for our salvation, which he carried out through his Son, Jesus Christ!
It really will be alright, because we don’t rely on any human being who has a definite “shelf life”, ourselves included. Because of our limited human brains, we can’t really grasp the concept of eternity and the myriad of its implications, but we can enter each new day knowing as sure as anything can be, that Psalm 115:3 Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases. Again, Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever. And finally, Isaiah 40:28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.