Tribal Elders

You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine.  Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.                                                         Titus 2:1-2

Yesterday I talked about the need to periodically reinvent ourselves. Life stages are one of those natural opportunities to do just that- reinvent ourselves. Adjustment to different life stages can be quite challenging. The stage of becoming a “senior”, and retirement, are perfect examples of this.

I remember our pastor years ago talked about turning 60 and he reframed that well saying that this makes us “tribal elders”. I liked that. Being a tribal elder brings on certain freedoms and certain responsibilities.  

I think it is all about how we view our advancing years. The idea of becoming a tribal elder is appealing. We are now at the stage of some wisdom and experience which we can share with our younger members. We worry less at this stage about our career, and more about pouring into the careers of others. We now revel in the success of those whom we have mentored, and are less concerned about increasing personal achievements.

There is real freedom in this, as long as we can truly embrace our new status. We can get real satisfaction out of the achievements of others, and we celebrate the fact that the future is increasingly becoming theirs.  

The plan for this life is the need to give it away in order to have it truly become a blessing for us.

Prayer: Lord, help us to finish our race well, Amen