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Ageism (like Logan's Run?)


The assignment for one of my kids was to clip pictures from magazines which showed people in all stages of life.

Problem: no old people.

Now, these were not magazines like Vanity Fair or Vogue, where you would expect only beautiful people. These were magazines like Family Fun, Southern Living, and Better Homes and Gardens.

Where are the older people? There were a few, but they looked... well, good for their age. Nice weight, trim, youngish, still jogging. That is, old-er with a touch of gray and a glass of wine.

Are we so enamored with youth and beauty that we are afraid to publish pictures of people in wheelchairs or with walkers? (Thank you, UP!) I'm reminded of the old movie, Logan's Run, where everyone over 30 is expected to pass out of existence. They just disappear, leaving the world young and beautiful.

Now that I'm a grandparent I am becoming more aware of ageism. I'm thankful that where I am, in a college town, I still get many requests to mentor students and young adults.

This to me is one of the hallmarks of the work of the Holy Spirit in the new covenant, that the generations love one another and relate well together. Think of the baby Jesus bringing blessing, and being blessed by, two older saints, Anna and Simeon (Luke 2).

Consider these passages:

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)

One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. (Psalm 145:4)

And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. (Joel 2:28-29)

And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction. (Malachi 4:6)

Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children... (Titus 2:3-4)
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