24th July 2024

Churches, at their best, can be a brilliant meeting place for the generations; the youngest and the oldest can get to know each other in a safe, supportive and friendly environment. A recent service, led by Elizabeth and Alex, reminded us of the rich resource that is offered to the rest of us by older people. Their experience and wisdom can produce good advice and welcome encouragement to the following generations.

I notice that I see differently those people I have known all my life and those who I have only known as older people. That suggests to me that I need to get to know older people better and learn something of how they once were as well as how they are now.

I have a mother who is now in her nineties. I recently found a diary that she kept in 1968 while our family spent a year in the USA. Reading it has been fascinating; I have re-met the mother I had when I was 10. She was busy, energetic, thoughtful and worked hard to ensure that we all got as much as possible out of our stay in a different country. And I saw my young self, my sister and my brother from a very different perspective!

A God that exists outside the constraints of time sees all of this, sees the innocent youngster we were, the vivacious adult we became and the wise, mature older citizen that we have become. (If all has gone well!) And that God has loved us every step of the way.

Nick Parsons