Mark Twain Wisdom

‎"When I was younger I could remember anything, whether it happened or not; but my faculties are decaying now, and soon I shall be so [old] I cannot remember any but the things that never happened."

Mark Twain

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How Much Is Enough?

Inspired by/copied from Waving or Drowning?

Get The Giving Tree At Amazon.com
or read it in video on YouTube.com.
"And so the boy gathered her apples...
cut off her branches...
cut down her trunk...
and the tree was happy...
'I have nothing left to give...I am sorry...
[But] an old stump is good for sitting and resting.
come, boy, sit down.
Sit down and rest.'
And the boy did.
And the tree was happy."
How can we know if we are giving enough? C.S. Lewis has the perfect answer to this universal question:

"I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am
afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other
words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc. is
up to the standard among those with the same income as our own, we are
probably giving away too little…. There ought to be things we should
like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditures exclude them."
- C.S. Lewis -
On the other side of the coin, how can we know if we are giving too much? Oh that's simple: it's impossible to give too much. Unless of course you think Jesus, the epitome of love, gave too much. The work of loving others is never finished, and why would we want it to be? How in the world would we be fulfilled if we could not love others? If we all were perfect, we would be like God, Himself. So, since we're not, we all need love all of the time, and God sure wants to see us dole it out. So if none of us are perfect, and the job of loving sacrifice is never done, then how can we ever give too much of anything?

It is humbling to consider whether or not I give enough. I have to admit that I do not. I know, I just said that nobody ever can; so, I also have to admit that I hardly TRY hard enough. That is the real question. Whether or not we TRY too much.

Are people in need around you? Could you do a little more of something, anything, to help them out?

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Being Old Rocks!

I find it so fascinating when people are irritated or made uncomfortable (to say the least) by the idea that they are old. What is so bad about being old? At many of our jobs we swear by written and unwritten rules of Seniority, but we dread reaching our XXth birthday. We should be proud to be old! If a 35-year-old parent knows soo much more than his or her 11-year-old child, why doesn't a 55, 60, or 87-year-old know that much more than the parent? Old people are wise, they've been around the track many more times, they know things that younger people just don't, and often can't.

In Andy Rooney's old age, he released a little list of "I've learned..." quotes. One of them was "I've learned that the best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person." Being old has to rock! Then you'll know everything! And you can just sit back and chuckle at all of the young people running about doing silly things with their lives (but hopefully you'll take a break to steer one or two a little straighter). I mean, will looking X years younger really make that big of a difference in...anything?

An amazing thing that old people can do in particular, and without even trying, is humbling people. I get do disappointed with myself when I'm engaged in a conversation and I forget that the others in the discussion probably know as much or more about the subject than I do. I tend to forget about this until after I say something stupid. I can just imagine the elder people smiling inside while they listen to me. They probably think things like "Haha, I wonder why he thinks I don't know this...oh yeah, he's 19!" or, "What can I subtley say or do so that he'll feel so silly later." At least, that's what I think they should be thinking after I'm make a fool of myself. My fellow blogger, Robert, posted something along similar lines the other day. He describes his feelings much differently, but I identify with his words extremely well in Down!, Ego, Down!

But you know, I said I get diappointed with myself, but really I'm glad. Sure I feel like an idiot, and I sort of carry on with my tail between my legs (thats me humbled), but it's all part of learning. We have to feel less than 100% great in order to figure out how to deal better the next time that happens. Personally, I am excited by the idea of being old and super wise. However, that doesn't mean that I will forsake the time that I have until then. Who knows if I will make it past tomorrow... (My post about death: To Live Is To Love)

What do you think about growing old? Are you looking forward to solving many of life's puzzles, or are you too worried about your face and Social Security? :]

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