And we don't care about the old folks, talkin' bout the old style too

Aside from my grandparents, I've never particularly enjoyed old people.
You know how most people, when walking by an old couple or seeing that one elderly lady walking down the street will say, "aww they're so cute!"... that's not exactly my reaction.

To be honest, the elderly kinda freak me out. They are basically a demonstration of what we are to become x# of years down the road (and when I say "old" people, I'm referring to those of 60+ years.. although I am aware most people would not classify that as old). They are sometimes senile, smelly, slow, alone, lost and basically nearing the end of the journey, so seeing them as they are right then, I feel that it makes sense to be kinda offset about them.

However, this morning, my original paradigm received a little bit of a challenge and a push.

It started last night around 11:30pm when Meghan and I were checking to see who would be speaking in chapel this morning. The previous speaker had been ok, but her message was definitely intended for an audience of hormonal high school students and I just didn't think I could take another day of that. Luckily, this speaker was not going to be there, but in her place was a man named Dick Foth, age 68, Minister-at-Large; Washington, D.C. and he was going to speak on politics.

ehh...

I resolved that I would make sure to bring my most recent crochet project (ha, speaking of old people...) and go anyways. I was really just expecting a guy with a cane, perhaps, to hobble up to the podium and rattle off terms and names and ideas that were way over my head and before my time.

To my surprise, the person that stepped up to the podium looked exactly like the man in the photo online, but once he began speaking, he sounded completely different than what I was expecting.

This man spoke with passion, wisdom, love, experience, yearning and joy. Very different from the old people I so often envision as decrepit.

He shared stories of his life and continually related it all back to how we are to be like children before God. During his message, it hit me: old folks have lived a lot more life than I have and they are going to have way more wisdom than I could ever expect. Why hadn't I ever thought of this before?

Probably due to my lack of wisdom.