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COMMENTARY

AGE IS JUST A NUMBER
Commentary 
Courtesy of Bill Ellis
Syndicated columnist


Two men were talking about a project they wanted to tackle
together. One said, “Do
you think we might be
a little old to take on
such a venture?” Jack
replied, “No, we can do
it. After all, age is just
a number.”

When he was 79 years
old, Elton Trueblood,
the internationally
known Quaker
philosopher, writer of
books, gifted public
speaker and university
professor who taught at
Harvard, Stanford,
Earlham and other
prominent schools,
would say to my wife
and me, “Bill and Kitty,
I get to be 80 my next
birthday!” He spoke
with enthusiasm and
optimism as he looked
ahead. 

I have had enough birthdays and enjoyed them all to the extent that I like the idea of it being a habit I’m in no hurry to break.  .

In my teenage years, I said, “When I get old, I’m going to wear red ties. I want to look like I am alive.” When I do get to be an older gentleman, I will wear red ties. Growing older has become a habit I enjoy.

An ancient Christian, Polycarp, was given the choice of denying Christ or suffering martyrdom.  The aged saint said, “Eighty and six year I have served my Savior and He hath never done me any harm; and shall I deny Him now?” He was growing older and stronger in his faith each day. 

I had a birthday again on January 25, 2010.  Monday morning, Kitty and I were in Charleston so I could give the prayer for the opening of the West Virginia Senate. 

President-Lieutenant Governor, Earl Ray Tomblin, gaveled the session to order and graciously introduced me. When I finished my prayer, the President asked the Senate to join in singing, “Happy Birthday Brother Ellis”. The Senators, led by Senator Clark S. Barnes, sang beautifully. What a day!

I also did that on my 49^th birthday, a few years ago, in Washington, D. C. for the United States House of Representative and was introduced by the Speaker, Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill, who was in his 14^th term as the Democrat Representative for the 8^th District of Massachusetts. 

My son, Mark, sent a card for my birthday. It was a beautiful card with good prose, but Mark wrote the words I appreciated most: “I used to think your age was old, but now that you are there, you make it seem so young.”

Those of us who are in the habit of growing older do not necessarily have to act and talk that way. William Ryan wrote, “No man is really old until his mother stops worrying about him.”

Oliver Wendell Holmes introduced us to the humor of many birthdays with these words: “To be seventy years young is sometimes far more cheerful and hopeful than to be forty years old.  Add this story to the aging saga. An adult asked a little boy, “How old is your father?”  The boy replied, “He’s in the middle ages.”

Kitty’s sister, Stephanie, when she was five, asked, “Mother, were you a little girl when George Washington was president?” Age is just a number and whatever age we are should be just fine and a perfect fit at the time.

Man has always been conscious of his age. A prayer of Moses has in it these words: “Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.  So teach us to number our days.  That we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:1, 12).

If age is just a number, it is still very important. Enjoy every day as you try to love God with all your heart and others as yourself.  Keep counting the years and make it a good habit. Happy next birthday to you!

© 2010 Wm. C. Ellis
All Rights Reserved



Bill Ellis
Award Winning Syndicated Columnist
P. O. Box 345
Scott Depot, WV 25560
Phone: 304-757-6089
www.BillEllis.net

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Bill
Ellis