February 12, 2009
Thou Shalt Not...
A professional facilitator on assignment in New Mexico found the following ground rules posted in the senior citizen’s center. 1) No alcohol on premises 2) No fighting will be tolerated 3) No abusive language 4) No harassment tolerated 5) No weapons allowed on premises. In good natured humor, seasoned with a hint of disbelief, she questioned the director about what seniors found worth fighting over. “Oh… it happens. They fight over the ladies.” Now wouldn’t you think that as a senior your maturity would override the need for rules? It’s no wonder the ground rules found in Scripture don’t change according to our maturity level…some things never change.
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Gail;
-----We tend to abuse terminology to cover up the truth. The most discernable example is the extension of the term “adult” from “adult behavior” and “adult attitudes” to “adult movies” and “adult material”. The same can be said about “for mature audiences only”. There is nothing adult or mature about gratuitous sex, violence, and foul language. In fact, these are childish and immature. But I am sure Hollywood is not going to release a movie rated, “For immature, childish audiences over the age of 18.” That kind of truth in the rating system would chill the box office enough to raise the level of real maturity in our entertainment. It would be better for us all if our common speech used terms more accurately. Then “adult” and “mature” would have proper application to age and attitude alike. If we stopped using these terms in reference to “Debbie Does Dallas”, “Sin City”, and “Friday the Thirteenth I, II, III, etc.” then maybe our culture in general would find “Ben Hur”, “My Three Sons”, and “The Point of the Spear” as being the real adult and mature entertainment.
-----The same principle operates in the way we address our old folks, although I have heard in it more honesty. Maybe the terms “seasoned” and “senior” are applied to them rather than “adult” and “mature” because there is less economic risk in alienating the old geezers than in offending the sex-crazed, foul-mouthed, rabid yuppies. How many years a person has spent on earth has less to do with adulthood and maturity than how much dignity, respect, and honor has been practiced during those years.
-----But there is a twinkle of truth in the term “second childhood”. Certainly most folks understand it to mean the freedom of retirement and the need for care. But I have always seen a deeper truth in that term, especially when it is applied to those old geezers who never did anything about the sex-craved, foul-mouthed, rabid nature of their yuppie years. For them, second childhood is heightened childishness. And when you really think about it, our seniors are staring death in the face. It is the next step in their life. When I lived in the dorms at Bible college, I was amazed at how nuts the kids would go the night before the big semester finals. I couldn’t understand it, because the pressure was on, not off. So why such a calf-out-of-the-corral response? Combine that thought and “second childhood” there at the twilight of life and you get “…boys will be boys…”
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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