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Since I am seeking to write an article on “Mastering the Years” I need to offer a word of clarification.  I write on this important subject not as one who knows how to do it, but as one who simply has a few ideas on the subject. 

So here goes, first, maintain the joy-keep a sense of humor.  A man once said to his son, “if you get down, you are bringing trouble with you and you are always sad. If you are always joking and having fun, life takes care of itself.”  Unhappy people tend to dwell on the negative side of things.  In essence, they live a life of bad news.  Their focus is always on the problems or troubles or hassles of life.  No wonder they are unhappy.  On the other hand, happy people maintain a sense of humor and focus on the good and celebrate it.  A husband and his wife were riding down the highway arguing.  Upon seeing a pasture full of mules, the husband said to his wife, “Relatives of yours?”  To which the wife replied, “Yes, but on my husbands side.” Maintain the joy!

Second, never grow idle-live outside yourself!  In the book of Proverbs there’s a beautiful passage that describes the ideal wife and mother in the sight of God.  One of God’s important standards, that is expressed in this ideal lady, is found in verse 27.  It reads, “She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.”  Not long ago I had the funeral of a woman who loved to dance all her life.  On one occasion, at age 94, while she was teaching her great granddaughter how to dance, she fell and broke her ankle.  What did she do?  She got right back up and finished the dancing lesson prior to being taken to the emergency room of the hospital.  It was said of her that she was always joking and having a good time and on the go.

Third, remember-but don’t live in the past.  Writing in his hook, “A Plain Man Faces Trouble,” the late Wilson Weldon said, “It is helpful to engage in frequent recollection of great moments and meaningful bouts of spiritual perception and victory.”  He goes on to say that this is not to suggest that we live in the past but rather to say that recalling some of the highlights in the yesterdays can be helpful as we become aware of the rapidity of life.  A great thinker, Sir James Barrie, expressed it this way, “Memory is given to us in order that we may have roses in December.”

Fourth, keep close to God-be the salt of the earth.  Writer W. Phillip Keller spoke of what it means to be “the salt of the earth type.”   “To be salt, we do not need to be spectacular.  To be salt, we do not need to be sensational.  To be salt, we do not need to be successful by the world’s standards.  Rather, we have to be sensitive to the Spirit of God.  We have to be attuned to Christ’s presence within us.  We have to be available to the purpose of God our Father for us and for others around us…”  In the later years, we should have more time for God and his purposes.  Consequently, our lives should be richer and more fulfilled.

There is so much more than could be said on this subject but perhaps this is enough for now.