getting older

Yesterday I was leading a devotional thought for the folk who come to our lunch club for the elderly. I was going to begin with a few jokes about getting older:

The most effective way to remember your wife’s birthday is to forget it once.

Bob Hope: “She said she was approaching forty – I couldn’t help wondering from what direction.”

The good news about middle age is that the glass is still half full. The bad news is that it won’t be long before your teeth are floating in it.

Middle age is when you choose your breakfast cereal because of its fibre content rather than the free toy.

Cliff Richard went to an old people’s home to host a sing-along. He was surprised that none of the residents recognised him. He went up to an old lady and said, “Excuse me, but do you have any idea who I am?”

“Sorry dear,” said the old lady. “But if you ask one of the nurses they’ll tell you.”

The joke was on me, though, because I forgot to take my notes with me!

I was musing about why we celebrate birthdays. I suspect that it is partly that we are celebrating that we have been born; partly a celebration of that person by friends and family; partly a recognition that we have successfully managed to complete another free trip around the sun; partly a recognition that God has made us and we are grateful to him.

In the end I think it comes back to an attitude of gratitude. We are grateful for all of those things.

In Alice In Wonderland the Mad Hatter and his friends are celebrating an ‘unbirthday’ party. There can be 364 unbirthdays (365 in leap years) every year in which we can be grateful for those around us; for our existence and for God’s goodness to us. We don’t have to wait for the anniversary of our entry into the world.

Happy unbirthday to you – nurture that attitude of gratitude!