Recently I read that a staggering proportion of anti-aging products are purchased by and for children. One Swedish beauty chain estimates that 20-40% of its products are bought by people under the age of 13; while parents are reporting that even nine- and ten-year-olds are begging for anti-aging cosmetics.
Many children and teens are spending an hour or more each day on skincare, waking up early and staying up late to slather on the masks, creams, serums and oils to ‘preserve’ their youthful glow. Influencers on TikTok and other media have created a generation so desperate to grow up young, it seems they will spend all their time and money trying to avoid any appearance of aging at all.
The Bible has a different view. ‘Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life,’ we find in Proverbs 16:31. Children are precious, yes, but old age is celebrated as a time of wisdom, fruitfulness, even adventure.
For example, Luke’s story of the birth and childhood of Jesus is almost entirely about older people. We meet Zechariah and Elizabeth, well past the usual age of childbearing, then Simeon and Anna, who have spent many decades watching and waiting for the messiah. Joseph’s age is a mystery; Mary is the only identifably young person in the story.
Going back further, Moses was forty before he left Egypt and eighty when he died, still leading Israel: and we are told he remained vital until the end of his life, no anti-aging creams required. Abraham was a hundred when Isaac was born, and Sarah ninety, when God’s promise of descendants came to fruition in their advanced old age with neither Viagra nor IVF. Meanwhile, Noah was a whopping 600 years old when he built the ark, and he never spent a cent on retinol.
Whether these numbers are literal or figurative, they tell us something important: that in God’s story, those who live rooted in God’s goodness will bear fruit their whole lives.
Psalm 92 celebrates this faithful ageing. It sings of God’s loving-kindness in the morning of life, and God’s faithfulness as the sun sets. Throughout life, says the Psalmist, the righteous shall be fresh and green, bearing fruit into a ripe old age.
So, how do you approach your own aging? With fear and avoidance, or with embrace? Are you allowing your waist to thicken and your hair to thin, or are you pouring a great deal of time, money and effort into fighting aging and masking its effects?
However you are approaching it, take a moment now to reflect on a time when you have experienced aging as gift. When has maturity been a blessing? What fruits of age have you observed in yourself or others? And how might you tell of God’s loving-kindness through your life, and bear witness to lifelong flourishing to the children and teens around you?
Because our young people need something better than face creams and serums and crippling anxieties about their appearance. They need trusted adults who embody the beauty of aging, the gifts of maturity, and the flowing green joy of a life deeply rooted in God. They need a reason to want to grow up.
PREPARE: Make yourself comfortable. Uncross your legs; relax your body; uncomplicate your heart. Ask God to help you surrender to whatever it is that God wants to do in you or say to you today. Breathe slowly and deeply in, then out.
2. READ: Read the following passage aloud at least three times through, slowly. Listen carefully. Notice anything which captures your attention.
It is good to give thanks to God,
and to sing praises to your Name, Most High;
to tell of your loving-kindness early in the morning
and of your faithfulness in the night season …
The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree,
and shall spread abroad like a cedar of Lebanon.
Those who are planted in the house of God
shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall still bear fruit in old age;
they shall be green and succulent;
they show how upright God is,
my rock, in whom there is no fault. (Psalm 92:1-2, 12-15)
3. REFLECT: Allow a word, phrase or image to speak to you. What do you notice? What emotions do you feel? What questions are bubbling up? Reflect in silence.
4. RELATE: Now wonder: How are you approaching your own aging? With fear and avoidance, or with embrace? What fruits of age have you observed in yourself or others? When has maturity been a gift? How could you bear witness to a ripe old age to younger people?
5. RESPOND: What is God calling you to now? Pray about this, and tell God about anything which is emerging. If you feel called to action, ask God to show you the next step.
6. REST: When you feel ‘done’, rest awhile. Savour the conversation you are having with God, and God’s loving presence. Close with a gesture of thanks: perhaps a simple bow. As you prepare to leave this space, if any word, phrase or image persists, let it guide you. Or if nothing in particular arises, remember this:
- It is good to tell of your faithfulness in the night season …
Shalom,
Alison
Reflection on Psalm 92:1-4, 12-15 prepared for the Flemington Ark / Essendon Baptist on 16 June 2024 © Alison Sampson, 2024. Photo by Ravi Patel on Unsplash (edited).
Alison and the whale 