Benjamin Bean attended a funeral with me a few weeks ago. During the eulogy and reflective readings he remained stone still, tucked into my side.
"Nana," he whispered, suddenly, softly. Turning to me. "I'll be sad at your funeral."
The direction of his thoughts startles me often. "That's okay," I whispered back. "But you can be a little bit happy then too, because, remember, I'll be living with Jesus in Heaven, more alive than ever. And when you get there too, we'll be together again."
"Nana. I know," he said, all glum-like.
I gave him a squeeze. "Anyway, honey, you don't have to worry about that for awhile. I still have a lot of living left to do."
His stillness told me his thread of somber thought hadn't yet spun out. I waited. Finally, out came this: "You're right, Nana. But I have more living left to do than you."
I had no more words. Because if things go as they ought, my grandbean is right, and we both know it. My dot on the timeline of this part of my life is far to the right of center. Two decades left, perhaps three?
I try to imagine the chances-are changes ahead, clear-eyed: I will grieve loved ones. My grandbeans will grow up and away and forget me. My body won't do what I tell it to. I'll need to downsize and move. My public words will stop, and my private ones may fail. My activities will slow and so will my brain. My circle of friends will diminish. I'll have to obey my children. I'll end up wearing diapers.
Put that way, old age appears grim. But another perspective lessens my apprehension. It comes not only from my certainty that God will accompany me to final dot on my earthly timeline, but from the clear example of others in times past and present. People like our friend Anna Ingham, renowned educator and developer of the Blended Sight and Sound Method of Learning.
The Preacher and I attended Anna's 100th birthday tea recently. We arrived too late to see her jig to "Robin in the Rain," the song she taught children for the better part of her marathon almost eight-decade career. But we arrived in time to hear and see tributes to a striking legacy of faith and life.
As it has for all our elderly friends, the aging process has dealt Anna numerous challenges. She meets those with the same "Let's make a game of it!" attitude that has endeared her to generations of students. She chooses to focus on the glad over the sad. To grab God's hand instead of a fistful of complaints. And at her party, though she could barely see, she beamed.
You and I may indeed have fewer years of living ahead than behind. With God's help, let's choose to fill them with faith, hope, love and purpose.
And fellow Christ-followers, never forget: The best is yet to be.
