Growing Older

"Now faith is the assurance of the things we hope for,

being the proof of things we do not see, and the conviction

of their reality, faith perceiving as real fact what is

not revealed to the senses."

Hebrews 11:1

            Rushing Through The Ozarks

Joseph Baker

                         

With the coming of another new year we are all...a year older.

Just what does it mean to us-this growing older?

Are we coming to a cheerful, beautiful old age,

or are we being beaten and cowed

 by the years as they pass?

Bruised we must be now and then,

 but beaten, never, unless we lack courage.

Not long since a friend said to me,

 "Growing old is the saddest thing in the world."

Since then I have been thinking about growing old, 

trying to decide if I thought her right.

But I cannot agree with her. 

True, we lose some things that we prize as time passes and

acquire a few that we would prefer to be without. 

But we may gain infinitely more with

the years than we lose in wisdom,

 character and the sweetness of life.

As to the ills of old age, 

it may be that those of the past were as bad 

but are dimmed by the distance.

 Though old age has gray hair and twinges

 of rheumatism, remember that childhood

 has freckles, tonsils, and the measles.

The stream of passing years is like a river 

with people being carried along in the current.

Some are swept along, protesting, fighting all the way,

 trying to swim back up the stream,

longing for the shores that they have passed,

 clutching at anything to retard their progress, 

 frightened by the onward rush of the strong current

 and in danger of being overwhelmed by the waters.

Moving With Faith

Others go with the current freely, 

trusting themselves to the

 buoyancy of the waters,

 knowing they will bear them up.

 And so with very little effort,

 they go floating safely along, 

gaining more courage and strength

 from their experience with the waves.

As New Year after New year comes,

 these waves upon the river of life 

bear us farther along toward the ocean of Eternity,

 either protesting the inevitable and looking longingly back

 toward years that are gone,

 or with calmness and faith, facing the future, 

serene in the knowledge that the power

 behind life's curtain is strong and good.

And thinking of these things, 

I have concluded that whether it is sad to grow old

 depends on how we face it, whether we

 are looking forward with confidence

 or backward with regret. 

Still, in any case, it takes courage

 to live long successfully, 

and they are brave

 who grow old with smiling faces.

Ozark Winter

Peggy Conyers

"Growing Older"

By Laura Ingalls Wilder

(1923)

From the book, "Little House In The Ozarks"

A Laura Ingalls Wilder Sampler

The Rediscovered Writings

Edited by Stephen J. Hines

1991 Guideposts Edition