If we are an aging person we have no way to explain the title of this post but it has been our experience. I was reviewing life with a Senior Adult couple in our church lobby recently.  As they told of their granddaughter’s plan to spend time in Spain I said, “That will give you a place to visit.”

They both shook their heads and together said that they had gotten old.  “All of a sudden it crept up,” the wife explained.  As my friend made this statement she caught the incongruity. “How can something like that be?” she mused.

Her husband tried to help by saying it was like “Jumbo Shrimp” but that didn’t really help.

Aging both stuns us with its suddenness and lulls us with its subtleness. I really don’t look in the mirror very often because I would rather picture myself at the age I feel rather than the age I look to others.

But maybe both views are important. My thinking of myself as young needs to be held in tension with the reality of my years. Then I can dream about all the things I still want to do even as I prepare for the day when I will need to let others do for me.

I pray that I can look through this bifocal lens with faith because all of a sudden it will creep up. Where are you on your journey toward becoming an older person?