Young at Heart

  

“Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day...” (2 Corinthians 4:16). 

The last vehicle I owned was a 1995 GMC truck. It was dented, battered and scratched and had more miles on it than its odometer has numbers. Some parts of it didn’t work well; some parts didn’t work at all, but I was fond of it. I owned it for 17 years or more. It was mine. 

It was only mine, however. It wasn’t me. I never confused myself with my truck.  

So it is with my body. It’s dented, battered and scratched. Some parts of it don’t work well and some parts don’t work at all. I’m rather fond of it, however. I’ve owned it for 85 years or more. It’s mine. (Saint Francis had it exactly right when he referred to his body as “brother ass"—stubborn, sturdy and useful.)

But my body isn’t me. I have a body and, thank God, I shall

have one better, but I am not now my body, nor shall I ever be; I am my soul—the immaterial, inextinguishable, thinking, reasoning, remembering, adventure–seeking, fun–loving “me,” that I call “myself” and “I.” I have been joined to God’s family forever, begotten through Jesus Christ my Lord. I am an immortal child of God; I will never grow old and I will never die.  

That’s why, when I look in the mirror and gape at this bundle of dry, withered sticks, I can rightly say, "That’s not me!” My true self is hale and hearty and will never grow old.  

If anyone insists otherwise—for I do look old and decrepit—I shall answer, “Stuff and nonsense!” for, as George MacDonald argues, “Of all children, how can the children of God be old?" 

David Roper 

3.16.18