Scripture: Isaiah 40:23-31

When I celebrated my fifty-sixth birthday, I discovered I was growing older faster than even I had suspected. Clive Robertson, on the 2GB breakfast program, went to the trouble of introducing his own version of my biography which included the facts that I was a well known personality who was an Anglican, with clear blue eyes and was celebrating my sixty-fifth birthday! The facts were: I was not an Anglican, I had brown eyes, and I was 56 not 65! However, he did correct himself the following morning by announcing that he had made a mistake and that I was, in fact, a very well preserved person of sixty-six!

Half a million of Sydney’s finest listeners then realised that I was in the prime of my life. Being so much older than my wife, I asked her how she felt being married to a much older man. Beverley replied: “I have grown used to the idea over 36 years! For I have felt I have been in the prime of life for thirty six years!” I am not sure of that answer: does that mean being married to me had aged her throughout all of our married life? After all, she was born just one week after I was.

Aging is a sexually transmitted terminal condition we all possess! Aging is in the marrow of our bones. What we must do as we grow older is to turn our experiences into the prime of life!

1. AUSTRALIA IS A GREYING SOCIETY.

Our numbers are on the increase. No longer is Australia the “young country”. Those of us born in the war years and in the post-war baby boom are now mostly retired. Our large numbers are the most significant factor in Australian demographic studies and by 2040, the aged will be the majority in society!

In contrast, the number of children under age 15 decreased by 1% during the same time during the census period. Our society currently values youth over age, but this is likely to change as more people age.

As of today over one fifth of Australia’s population is over the age of 65 and that percentage is growing fast. What is even more alarming is that the numbers over 75 years is growing even faster.

Government pensions of one kind or another are the primary source of income for 3 out of every 4 older couples and 4 out of every 5 older singles. Only 6% of older people rely primarily on superannuation and less than 5% on employment but this will change as the Federal Government has now legislated the retirement age to be 67 years, not 65 years, and superannuation contributions earlier in life have increased.

When I was leading Wesley Mission Sydney, I studied the future of this group of aging Australians and recommended the building of more retirement villages, nursing homes, home-based palliative care services, and daily and support for home help, meal services and educational and social activities. At the time of my 1993 report to Wesley Mission, I wrote: “The under 14 population as a percentage of the population has fallen from 45.5% in 1971 to 32.6% in 1991. It is likely to fall further over the next 40 years to about 27%. The 65 and over population as a percentage of the population has risen from 13% to 1971 to 17%, and is likely to rise gradually in the next 20 years to 20%, but steeply after that to 32% in 40 years time. The percentage of those over 65 who are over 75 will jump from 40% at present to 60% in 40 years time.”

That planning was remarkably prophetic. This increasing number of older people will have major influences upon welfare and health care costs.

Our employment is a matter of concern. Unemployment among older aged people is a problem. In NSW, mature-age people are faring worst in the battle to find work. They are unemployed for an average of nearly 85 weeks, and after this amount of time the unemployed are unemployable. Work practises have past them by.

Furthermore, age discrimination is widespread in the labour market. Age is used as a criterion in most employment decisions, such as hiring, promotion, training and retrenchment. The NSW Government’s Office On Ageing has said that with unemployed people aged over 40, 77% have reported that their age was a barrier to gaining employment, as employers simply considered them “too old”.

One study revealed that Human Resource Managers were negative in their attitude to older workers. They were: less likely to hire a person over the age of 45; less likely to encourage older workers to remain at work through flexible work practices; and more likely to agree that workers over 45 do not have the energy and drive for today’s business environment.

2. MANY STEREOTYPES OF OLDER PEOPLE ARE WRONG.

The problem is that our stereotypes of older people are wrong. A member of my Wesley staff some years ago, Rev Dr Leslie Underwood, wrote a book entitled “Who Cares – The Church And Older People” (JBCE, 1994).

His research showed “almost everyone wants to live to a ripe old age, but no one wants to grow old. Ageing generally has a negative image, bound up with fears, stereotypes and alarmist projections about the implications of an ageing population. But we can look forward to the possibility of an increasingly fit and productive old age with the hope that society may see older persons as a rich and vital resource. It is my belief that to maximise the realisation of these opportunities, there will need to be a shift in attitude towards a more positive view and appreciation of older persons. As the baby boom reaches old age and creates the ‘senior boom’ or ‘age wave’ it should be noted that they have influenced adjacent generations, both those following and those preceding them.”

In the next decades, the future elderly will increasingly be members of four, or perhaps even five, generation families with wide networks of potential support. However, this will be complicated by divorce, remarriage, gay and lesbian partnerships and increasing numbers of never-married persons.

But I see evidence that senior adults, far from being the last of a past age, can become the vanguard of a new age. I can see reason to be optimistic about the capacity of people in their senior years to give courageous leadership and to be in the forefront of a new era. I am impressed by the fact that many older people I know have grown younger because the senior adults are alive, optimistic, welcoming, and in the forefront of imaginative change.

Most people believe wrong stereotypes. For example, contrary to popular stereotypes, few older people report that they are unhappy, lonely, or have unsatisfactory family or social lives. More than half of older people attend meetings of social organisations at least once a month and are significant users of mainstream recreational, sporting and cultural facilities. Older people are more likely to provide than to receive assistance.

Older people are twice as likely to give as to receive financial aid from their children. Half of all older people provide practical help to their families. The average older person has two children as well as grandchildren and maybe great-grandchildren. They see a child at least once a week. Grandparents account for 50% of the care given to children. One out of every five older people in NSW serves as a volunteer.

Contrary to popular stereotypes, research shows that older workers possess a strong work ethic, are responsible, have fewer absences than younger workers, have lower turnover rates, in other words, the very qualities employers say they are looking for in an employee.

Seniors control 75% of Australia’s assets and 50% of its spending power. 90% of older people own their own homes and 80% are mortgage free. Seniors account for 80% of all vacation travel, particularly first class air travel and luxury cruises. They also spend 30% more than younger tourists.

Contrary to popular stereotypes, older people are healthy. Average life expectancy has been increasing in Australia over the past thirty years. Only 4% of those over 65 and 20% of those over 85 are in nursing homes.

The grey haired set is “WOOPIES” – Well-Off-Older-People. In America more than 125,000 people are one hundred years or older.

In Great Britain 15% of the population is over sixty-five and those of general retirement age hold 40% of the individual wealth of the country. This major demographic shift towards the elderly means that most of the WOOPIES, now that the children are off their hands, the mortgage and life insurance paid and responsibilities in general decreasing, are travelling – not so much hand-in-hand into the sunset but more likely with swimsuits and golf clubs into the rising sun in Spain or, guidebook at the ready, trekking in the Himalayas.

3. FOR MANY OLDER PEOPLE, THEY ARE IN THE PRIME OF LIFE.

The word “prime” means the state of highest perfection, the best part of anything, the best part of life. In mathematics it means the number divisible only by itself. In politics the prime minister is the principal minister of state. In banking it means the lowest rate at which money can be borrowed commercially. In advertising it means the peak times for listening and viewing. To prime a pump means to start it working. To prime a charge means to set an explosive. To prime a person means to supply him with information. To prime a door means to apply the first coat of paint.

And to enjoy the prime of life means to turn whatever age you are into the very best period of all your years. So often people say to youth that they should enjoy the best years of life. But the good news for youth is that the best is yet to be!

For most people “the prime of life” is the years after retirement. Some people do not want to keep the pace as they get older. They figure that when you’re pushing sixty, that’s exercise enough! Others boast that they are still doing at sixty what they were doing at twenty, which means they were not doing much at twenty! But for most people, the prime of life is the older years.

4. HOW CAN PEOPLE MAKE ANY TIME THE PRIME TIME OF LIFE?

One way is to take care of your health. You do not honour God by eating badly; by not exercising and keeping fit, or by having a stress filled life style. I know. I was guilty, but have changed my habits, lost weight, and exercise regularly.

One church gave a special party for one of its members celebrating his 100th birthday. In his remarks the salty centenarian told the group, “If I had known I was going to live this long, I’d have taken care of myself.” That’s the challenge to all of us who want to enjoy the prime of life.

Another way is to continue to expand your mind. Education is very largely wasted on the young. Older people enjoy learning so much more. For 27 years I had responsibility of Wesley Missions 3,600 enrolled pupils in the School For Seniors. Continual learning is an enjoyable process, and there is medical evidence that shows brain cell stimulation retards the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.

Dr Paul Brand, one of the world great surgeons, writes about his mother: “When my mother, Granny Brand, was eighty-five, long after my father had died, she helped forge a medical breakthrough in India.
She had often treated gross abscesses on the legs of mountain people by draining the pus and excising a long, thin, guinea worm. Distressed by the frequency of those abscesses, she studied the problem and learned that the worm’s life cycle included a larval stage spent in water. If she could help break that cycle, she would eradicate the worm.

Knowing the people’s habits well, she quickly deduced that wading in water was probably the means of transmission. Cashing in on the trust and love she had built up through decades of personal ministry, she rode her horse from village to village, urging the people to build stone walls around their shallow wells and to prevent foot contact with the water. In a few years this old lady had single-handedly caused the eradication of all such worms, and their resulting abscesses, in two mountain ranges.” (“Fearfully and Wonderfully Made” Dr. Paul Brand and Philip Yancey p.146.)

Expanding your mind by new learning and new discoveries makes for the last years to be your best years.

Another way is to find enjoyment in living. After years of work, childrearing, repaying mortgages and getting where you are many are drained. Now this stage of life allows for enjoyment.

Former US President Jimmy Carter who has found so much satisfaction in mediating significant world problems such as the recent Korean nuclear crisis, the Tsunami and the Haiti earthquake, finds much enjoyment working as a house-building volunteer for Habitat For Humanity. He writes: “Not long ago we noticed a mobile camper just in front of us as we came up to the traffic light in Plains. A carefully painted sign on the back said, “We cancelled our will and bought this van. Our kids know we’re enjoying life.” (“Everything to Gain” by Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter p.189). What you do is not important, provided it helps others and gives you enjoyment.

Another way is to find commitment in living. One of the great secrets of the prime of life is to be people of some passion and commitment. That develops energy within. Never be a couch potato captive to day-time TV soap operas. Find energy producing commitment!

As Isaiah says (40:28-31): “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Finally, the best way is to discover the meaning of life. So many people have been so busy making a living they have never discovered why they are doing it. They lack all meaning to life and ultimately die without a sense of fulfilment.

My former colleague Rev Dr Les Underwood says: “The question of whether life has meaning or whether our individual lives make any real difference is a religious question not because it is about matters of belief or attendance at worship services, but because it is about ultimate values and ultimate concerns. Religion focuses on the difference between human beings and all other species, and on the search for a goal so significant that we make our lives significant by attaching ourselves to it. Professor Victor Frankl maintains that, “Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfil the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual”.”

To encourage young people to make commitments to Jesus Christ and to discover God’s purpose for their lives is a worthy task, but to challenge older people to discover meaning and purpose in Jesus Christ and God’s will for them through their making a commitment to Jesus Christ is essential for their future and their satisfaction in their last years.

Your faith alone can give you a future that knows no bounds. Your faith alone can provide you with the resources that enable you to cope with tomorrow and whatever tomorrow brings. Your faith alone can take your sunset years and turn them into sunrise years.

REV HON DR GORDON MOYES AC MLC

Tuesday, 1st June, 2010, 10:14 am | Family Life