The older the fiddler, the sweeter the tune.
Pope Paul VI
***************
Age doesn't give us wisdom. Wisdom is always there. What age does is enable us to catch up with it. I have a quote somewhere which says don't complain about being old, it's a privilege denied to many.
Many years ago I lived in northern New Hampshire. There are a lot of mountains there. On one bright, sunny summer day I was climbing Middle Moat Mountain. I was about 35. I had my shirt off, tucked into my back pack which was over my shoulders. I was feeling great. like primary man.
On Middle Moat the timber line is very near the base, so the climb is basically on rocks and surrounded by open space. As I climbed I noticed two people way up ahead of me coming down. They saw me, I saw them. As they got closer I could see they were teenage girls. As we passed each other one girs was talking to the other one about a boy she knew and I heard her say "I still see him but he's old now. He's almost 20." I felt like turning around and saying "Come here girls. Let me teach you something about age." But I walked on.
A few months later I was directing a production of "The Fantasticks" for the local high school. In the play the boy has a line about the girl which says "She makes me young again." The high school kid playing the part kept getting it wrong and saying "She makes me feel young again." which is cute, but it's not the line. "She makes me young again" coming from a youngster is much funnier.
Finally, after correcting him many times, I had them all sit down and I told them the story of my trip up the mountain. Then I asked the kid how old he was and he said he was 18. "Oh, my God" I said. "You're almost 20? You're old. You've hit your peak. It's all down hill from now on, buddy. You're living on overtime. You're already rusting out. I suggest you get to the drug store and buy a cane, you're going to need it. Look at yourself in the mirror tonight and see the wrikles and the gray hair starting to form. You're old and done for."
They all laughed, of course. Then I asked him "And what does she do for you?" "She makes me young again" he replied. He never got the line wrong after that.
What do older people do? The same things as younger people do. They may do it with less energy but with more experience and, hopefully, with some wisdom. Life can get sweeter when our fiddle is in tune and we finally know the song.
DB - The Vagabond
*********************
PUZZLE - WEEKEND EDITION
Labor over this.
***********************
KBH KF BOZOZSOB KQO NWCY FT GOIKOZSOB
EQOC UWTO EPG GUFE PCY FQ, GF ZOUUFE.
KBH KF BOZOZSOB KQO NWCY FT GOIKOZSOB
EQOC XBPGG EPG XBOOC PCY XBPWC EPG HOUUFE.
KBH KF BOZOZSOB KQO NWCY FT GOIKOZSOB
EQOC HFD EOBO P KOCYOB PCY VPUUFE TOUUFE.
KBH KF BOZOZSOB, PCY WT HFD BOZOZSOB
KQOC TFUUFE.
KEZ RFCOG
Good luck.
DB
*********************
7 comments:
All good things in time.
Sorry DB but I have to fundamentally disagree with you.
Age in no way can aid us in obtaining wisdom.
Time is a disinterested observer of our arrogant claims through ignorance and will surely only take what we leave behind.
Knowledge is something that we can gather in our minds and thereby disinherit ignorance.
Therefore increasing knowledge must be the way toward finding wisdom.
Education holds the key,
We hold the lock.
Sometimes we fail to oil the lock so that the key can turn and welcome new knowledge in a manner that befits an intelligent species.
Sometimes we must admit we fail.
Some take longer for the the good things to come then others, but hopefully they will find the wisdom during their life. But, then there are those who never will....that's sad, but for some that's life. .
Liz, yes, education is an asset, but I do believe that there are so many other variables that contribute to wisdom. Some of it is environment, life experience, inherent personality qualities. A counselor once told me that possessing a inner core of strength, plus the ability of resilience is key to how we handle one's bumps in life.
I believe that if you are able to gain insight, which I think often comes from life's experiences, you are then able to evolve that into gaining wisdom.
Amazing how differently we perceive age at different stages of our lives. I well remember when "30" was old and "50" - ancient. Now, I think that "80" is still young.
Liz and Marie in a philosophical cat fight?
Those who have the most success spiritually are those who recognize that the inner wisdom combines with external learning to create one's enternal character. Life is a chessboard with mistakes waiting to be made. He who makes then next to the last mistake on a board, wins. Those who make few mistakes during the course of a tournament of games is a champion. Finally, those who win many tournaments are usually called grand champion.
Like the mistakes on the chessboard, the talent that is wisdom is waiting on us to discover it...
Beautiful post. Yes, if we are open to gaining wisdom, we will gain it in time. A beautiful post.
krissy :)
Post a Comment