On February 24, Pastor Jim preaches on Ecclesiastes 12:1-8.

I like to think of myself as middle-aged, but that’s only true if I plan to live to 116; possible, I suppose, though not probable. 

From my perspective, we live in a culture obsessed with youth. My mind flashes back to images of my 12-year-old sister and her friend tanning themselves in the sun, each with cucumber slices over their eyes. A buddy of mine was present and made the comment, “What are you two trying to do, look younger?”  Maybe so.

This obsession with youth is nothing new. As the old preacher in the book of Ecclesiastes famously said in Ch. 1:8 , “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” This has been my observation over the years.

I love the way the author describes aging as “the guards of the house tremble, and the strong men are bet, and the women who grind cease working because they are few.” I'm not sure about the guards or the strong men; some say they represent the legs and arms, but the grinding women appear to represent teeth.

“The sound of the grinding is low.” Is this progressive deafness? “One rises with the sound of a bird.” (Gosh, I wish I could sleep in like I used to.) The blossoming of the almond tree may represent gray hair, and the grasshopper dragging its body around may represent the general weariness of old age or, as the next few lines indicate, the loss of desire. A-hem...

Are you afraid of growing old? We’ll think together about that on Sunday. I’ll be looking for you...through my reading specs!  :-)