Augustine on Aging

I recently got an e-mailed response to this blog from an old friend. Jimmy and I went to the same church together as boys (Oliver Presbyterian in Minneapolis) and became close friends. His family was always kind and hospitable to me and we had a lot of fun together. We battled it out for the ping pong championship of the church youth group and I held on for a narrow win. One of the athletic highlights of my growing up years. Although we haven't seen each other for about 42 years (if memory serves) we've started to correspond in recent months via e-mail. Needless to say we've been down some roads in all these years and its been good to start to reconnect.

I was thinking he'd be astonished to see the effect of the years on my wizened brow after I sent him a link to this blog. It didn't seem to phase him. He returned the favor and attached a photo of himself in an e-mail. Well, it seems we look older than we did when we were 18.

Oh well, its the world that gets old. Its the "old man" that dies. In Christ we are renewed each day. Here is a quote from a recent post on Christianity Today about Augustine's view of the passing of time.

As Augustine aged, he increasingly thought of the world, its politics, culture, and institutions, as a tottering old man whose days were numbered: "You are surprised that the world is losing its grip? That the world is grown old? Don't hold onto the old man, the world; don't refuse to regain your youth in Christ, who says to you: 'The world is passing away; the world is losing its grip; the world is short of breath. Don't fear, your youth shall be renewed as an eagle.'"