The Phoenix Jewish news., 1963-05-17
Old Age Faced
With Confusion


proach is the fact that we h v e
stated that the aged must look to
dependency and despair. We tend
to forget that there is wisdom and
strength to years and age, which
so few people are ready to recog-
nize. We come to see that every
thing in life is measured in dollars
and cents, but how much is meas
ured in terms of a persons worth,
a persons understanding and a
persons understanding and a per-
sons sense of values.
Our generation must come to
realize that a person who has
grown in years is not a useless
being. We have seen in our world
that some of the most useful peO-
pie came into the fulfillment of
their lives in their late years. To
day 1 look upon the capacity of a
human being not in the years of
the aged, but in the dynamic vi
tality which is still the work of a
human being. We see men today
in their 70s, sos, and even 9Os
who show the fullness of life, and
find the fuIlness of their capacity.
Just recently DR.. Martin Buber,
great renowned world philosopher
and professor at the Hebrew Uni
verSity, states that at the age of 85
he was now beginning to see some
of the things in life which formerly
he could not conceive to be true,
but now years W age and expert
ence have given him deeper in
sight, and that now he Is ready to
write the things he formerly could
not write. Now he is ready to write
with deeper assurance of the things
he knows and understands.
Ben-Gurion, the premier of Is
rael, is almost 80, but his vitality
has not left him and the wisdom of
his leadership and the power of his
thinking is still the most vital part
of the leadership in Israel. B r
nard Baruch, now past 80, still con-
tinueS to give advice on many inn
portant problems, and is still very
active in terms of the way in which
his wise counsel is of help for pres
idents and national officials in over
fifty years.
All these come to show one inn
pOrtant fact - mans youth de-
pends not upon his age or h / s
years, but mans youth depends
upon his zest for life. This Is a
capacity for imagination, a capa-
city of growing, a capacity Of liv-
ing and loving those dear things
which intake us what we are.
Early in life we learn that we
must come to understand wis
dom, maturity and serenity, b I
these are qualities which do I
come to us for the asking. We must
grow in years to have wisdom, to
have maturity and to have that Sc
renity, which is so important in
terms of our lives and experiences
The truth of the matter is we pre-
pare ourselves for our physical ano
economic security, but, do we pre-
pare ourselves for our spiritual Sc
curity?
The great challenge of growing
in years is whether we will hav,
q spiritual income to rest upon an.
work upon rather than merely eco
nomic income. We must come t
recognize as we grow IN years, W
grow in terms or the wisdom w
have gained in life, and the scare
for that wisdom only comes
those who want to make a spiritus
investment in life so that in thei
retirement they can draw upo
that spiritual investment, and rea
new fruits, new benefits which wi
make the years of age a blessin
instead of a curse.
No person is useless unless h
has made himself that way. N
person is uncreative unless he q
lows himself to be dormant. Fac
of us is as vital and dynamic I
we have the power to grow wit
each of our problems.