Growing Old Can Be Fun Too!

This week, Kerry and I watched an old film produced in 1942 starring Noel Coward called ‘In
Which We Serve’. It was a film created to inspire the audience to endure what at that time
required great courage and service from all who found themselves facing the existential
threat from Nazi Germany. The end of the film focusses on the Navy’s role at Dunkirk, which
was at first a great defeat, but eventually regarded as a great miracle with the saving of
almost 330,000 army personnel from the beaches of France. Also, the great bombing and
loss of life in Plymouth is also creatively documented. They don’t make films like this
anymore!

As I grow older, I am often conscious of my mortality and relationship with God and the
natural thought processes that go along with what some folk of my age experience, by on
occasion being labelled as a ‘grumpy old person’ especially in making sense of a changing
landscape in society for good or ill.

In talking with my wife about these philosophical questions, I don’t think I’m any grumpier
than many people my age. Growing older isn’t always fun and what is there to look forward
to? Yet there is much from the Bible that can really help in this process of ageing. I think, like
a lot of people who have been around a long time, you can mature in terms of simple
common sense and wisdom. You’ve survived this long – right? In many cultures, the elders
of the family are honoured for precisely that – growing old. Precisely because they are still
around, and their life experiences can be regarded as wisdom and worth drawing on by
younger members of the family.

Isaiah 46:4 – “And I will still be carrying you when you are old. Your hair will turn grey, and I
will still carry you. I made you, and I will carry you to safety”.

My moustache is grey, but my hair is holding out pretty good.

I have spent many years in media youth ministry surrounded by great music and the
exuberance which comes with youth. I’m aware that many young people, including my
children and grandchildren, will have to face issues that my generation didn’t. I am also
aware that many of our forbears endured deprivation and difficulties that saved our nation
from annihilation as they navigated through World War Two. We’re all on a journey.

What inspired me to write this article were the circumstances of watching the 1942 film and
reading an obituary written by Mark Greene of the London Institute of Contemporary
Christianity (LICC) in 2022 of the late Queen. He started the article by asking God in 2015 for
an example of a whole-life disciple of Jesus Christ and felt the Lord bring his focus on Queen
Elizabeth II. It is a great article and worth reading. It has nothing to do with being a royalist
or not, but a focus on a person who lived their faith as best they could in alignment to Him
and shared every Christmas about how this personal faith in Jesus Christ encouraged her in
life.

The Queen knew the scriptures about God putting the broken into families and the realities
that families are made up of broken people. Her family life was on show for all the world to
see. For better or worse she endeavoured with her great wisdom to be a source of
reconciliation, love and care for all. We all, whether young or old, have the opportunity to

leave the planet a little better than we found it by the wise choices we make in the good
and bad times.

The obituary written by Mark Greene is worth a read again. This is where social media can
be such a blessing. Have a great summer.

https://licc.org.uk/resources/obituary-queen-elizabeth-ii-beacon-of-grace/

This article first featured in the August editions of the Plymouth Chronicle.