Why Doesn’t Our Society Value “Old Timers?”

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I am an old timer!!! Yes and proud of it! The world considers me at 64, (This July 4th) that I am old and at risk! LOL!  I have to say that so many, many people make me feel valued as a person and pastor. Me and Sharon so very thankful for this! Amen! We feel loved! It is that love I carry with me every second of the day when I wake up at 3am to 4am to start the news reporting here at FGGAM. I do know that some my age and older do not get that love and respect. That is where I love to fill in the gap and let them all know they are of great value to the Kingdom of God! Think today of all the folks sitting at home alone, in a nursing home, assisted living, in the hospital and feeling alone, and feeling they are not valued, feeling forgotten by the world. Use the phone to spread the love of Jesus. I try and do that everyday! Yes! Let them know they are loved so very much in the love of Jesus and of great value to the Kingdom of God.

I was calling into rural New Mexico and Minnesota yesterday!

Just one more thing….I am always sad when I mention Billy Graham and at my age now, many do not know of him and his teachings. The same with others in our past.

Tribune Content Agency

Why doesn’t our society venerate the old?

Apr 13, 2020

From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

Q: I was forced into retirement after 50 years of service to a company that started small and successfully grew. I was the last of the “old timers” to go. Management doesn’t seem to value anything of the past and the younger generation never believes they too will someday grow old and useless. — U.V.

A: There was once a bumper sticker that said: “Enjoy life — it has an expiration date.” It was on an old Ford Thunderbird convertible parked next to a shiny new black T-Bird. The age difference between the two cars? Almost 50 years. In the backseat of the third-generation 1961 model sat a teenager and a toddler, the driver’s grandchildren. The owner of the black car was his son — the three generations were on a family vacation.

People congregated in the parking lot to admire the ’61 Bullet Bird. The old car was getting all the attention, while the new model with all the high-tech gadgets quietly took a backseat.

When Coca-Cola changed its 100-year-old formula in 1985, there was a public backlash and demands for the original formula forced the company to return to the Coca-Cola Classic. Millions of fans made it known they didn’t want the “real thing” tampered with.

What does this have to do with getting old and being sidelined? Old is authentic and valuable. An elderly woman once said to her husband, “I wish I had enough money to get a facelift.” Her husband said, “Dear, the most inexpensive and lasting facelift is just to smile; it draws your features upward, and that draws people to you.”

The elderly may retire from jobs, but they mustn’t retire from life; rather, continue to be examples of the right attitude. Remember, the Bible says: “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content” (Philippians 4:11).

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(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)

(c)2020 BILLY GRAHAM DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

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