Look deeper and see the person inside.
August 7, 2007 (Tuesday) – Brother Loyd Chapman, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Marlin for a quarter century, retired in Rockport and became a key member of our church. He had a grand sense of humor. When he reached his eighties, he told me, “Pastor, I’m not old, I’m chronologically challenged!” In truth, he never got old. His hair never turned grey, and neither did his spirit. He was indeed “forever young.”
This community is blessed with numerous people who seem to be refusing to get old. Many are in their eighties, but you would never guess their age. What an inspiration these folks are. We’ve seen folks in their nineties mowing their yards. Some have had their hundredth birthday, but they have never given up on life.
If you would like to see pictures of a person getting older right before your eyes, take a look at what the artist has done with Katie Holmes.
We look into the mirror today and seem to look the same as we did yesterday. We can be thankful we don’t age overnight, or do we? Take a look at the minister at a 1954 wedding in Lampasas, Texas. Do you recognize the pastor (22 years old)? He’s the kid at the far right. Here he is at a recent wedding, 53 years later. That’s his lifelong friend, Troy Conner, standing by him. We do change just a little every day, don’t we?
So, be patient with the older person; he/she may not know the appearance has changed so much. Take just a moment to look deeper and see the person inside. The last verse of “An Old Lady’s Poem” reads, “I think of the years … all too few, gone too fast, And accept the stark fact that nothing can last. So open your eyes, people, open and see, Not a crabby old woman; look closer … see ME!!”
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Read Dale Pogue’s blog: “The Muse is Loose”