I ain’t getting any younger.

After a long day of travel in the car, I’m sore the next day. When did riding in a comfortable vehicle start leading to aching muscles? I always keep my eyeglasses close, and even swinging a golf club requires a round of stretching. To repeat the well-used phrase, aging’s not for the weak of heart.

Which is why I find these words from the psalmist so hopeful: The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon…They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, “The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”

While my joints may calcify, my spirit can stay as supple as a palm tree in a tropical breeze. I notice lots of people grow increasingly bitter as they age. But this doesn’t have to be the case. A relationship with the Lord renews inner strength and yields a positive attitude toward others.

I can experience the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control—to the end of my days. I will bless the people around me, even the young annoying ones, by holding on to the Rock of my salvation.

The wasting away of my body does not mean I must experience the wasting away of my soul. The older I get the more beautiful that sounds.

Psalm 92 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Oziel Gómez