We have a thriving “Seniors Ministry” at JBC. They have a Bible study on Tuesdays and a “Friend Day” on Wednesdays from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. I have never gotten involved, mostly because I am so busy with ministry and fishing. But I went today and had a great time. It started out with a mini-concert and then went to discussions at each table on a preassigned topic. The topic today was “What in your past do you regret.” I thought most would be reluctant to share, but we had a great time sharing at the table I was at. Then many played “Bingo” and the rest visited with each other. There were lots of snacks and coffee. Tomorrow there are about 20 from the group going to the coast together in two 12-passenger vans. I had a very good time, and look forward to going again.

Seniors, as a whole, are great people to fellowship with. Even though a few have memory problems and some senility, most are sharp and have wisdom accumulated from years of living. Also most through years of dealing with cranky people have developed a strong character of graciousness, patience, and kindness.

One of the strong emphases in the Bible is to honor people and one of the key groups is seniors. When our kids were young we would visit some relatives in “Rest Homes” and they all learned how to honor seniors by listening attentively when they talked, smiling, and being gracious and kind to them. If we were starting over raising our kids I would do more of that, not because they don’t do well at that now, but just because I see the huge blessing it is for everyone when we honor the aged.