Getting a License to Go On

CHRIST IN WINTER: Reflections on Faith from a place of winter For the Years of Winter…

Getting Your License To Go On

In support of the doctrine of Original Sin, St. Augustine said that “the so-called innocence of children is more a matter of weakness of limb than purity of heart.” Anyone who has ever worked in a church nursery can attest to the accuracy of that observation.

I suspect that the so-called wisdom of old age is also more a matter of fatigue of limbs than greater intelligence of brain. It’s a lot harder to do stupid things in a recliner.

I sometimes wonder from whence comes this idea that old people should be venerated because of their wisdom. Some of the meanest, nastiest, greediest, most selfish, most self-centered people I have known were in their “golden” years.

Daughter Katie recently took a nursing license exam, on computer. When your score is high enough to pass, the computer program stops. It doesn’t care what score you might get if you go on. All it asks is, “Do you know enough to qualify for a license?” There is no competition with others to see who can score highest. The only competition is with yourself, to see if you know enough.

I wonder if maybe that’s how God has this life set up. The oldest people are actually the stupidest, the ones who haven’t answered enough questions correctly yet to qualify for a license to go on.

JRMcF

The “place of winter” mentioned in the title line is Iron Mountain, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where life is defined by winter even in the summer!

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{I also write the fictional “Periwinkle Chronicles” blog. One needs a rather strange sense of humor to enjoy it, but occasionally it is slightly funny. It is at http://periwinklechronicles.blogspot.com/}

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