Autumn is my favorite season of the year. I love the crisp mornings that turn into warm afternoons. I love the vivid colors of the foliage as they put off the green of summer and prepare to shed their leaves altogether for winter.
As I was driving around the area in which I live over the past week, my attention was arrested again and again as I came upon a fresh scene of gold and red and yellow leaves demanding a pause and moment of wonder. And then, I began comparing the seasons of the years with seasons of one’s life.
The actuarial tables tell us that the average life span of a man in America is roughly 80 years. If we take those eighty years and divide them by twelve, the number of months on our calendar, we can discover the season of life in which one is presently living. I am now 73 years old and according to my timetable, I am now living in the Autum of my life. And when I discovered this fact, my heart overflowed with joy. For the vivid colors that I see in nature are also manifesting themselves in my life. Let me explain.
With 73 years of life under my belt, I am experiencing wisdom that only comes from life experience. I have come to realize that it is knowledge coupled with life experience that produces wisdom. Gaining wisdom is a lifelong process. Also, I have been involved with pastoral ministry for 48 years and have grown not only in my knowledge of God but also in my knowledge of people and human behavior that is influenced by joy and sorrow, gain and loss. So, along the way, I have gained wisdom on how to counsel the young and the old and those in between.
When I preach a sermon today, I sense that it is being listened to in a way that my preaching wasn’t listened to in my 30’s and 40’s and 50’s. In fact I am now being contacted by individuals and groups who want to hear my thoughts on different matters of life and ministry. I can only attribute that to the fact that gray hair that now encircles my head (Proverbs 16:31 & 20:29) and that I have made it this far in ministry without a church split on my record and no evidence of financial or sexual indiscretions, the downfall of far too many ministers in our day.
In my early years as a pastor, God placed three elderly men in my life that had at least 150 years of ministry experience between them. Their lives radiated contentment and peace. They were at peace with God, they were at peace with their fellowman, they were at peace with themselves. All three of these men were in the Autumn years of their lives and their vivid Autum colors were visible to all who knew them. I longed for what I saw in them. And now, as I am in the Autumn of my life, I too am at peace with God, my fellowman, and myself. Now, as never before, I thank God for each new day and each new opportunity to share His Word with His People. Frankly, I am experiencing my best years and hopeful that the Autumn colors of my life are beginning to emerge. And of this I am convinced, the best is yet to come.
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