Introduction
The date is Saturday, October 7, 2017. It is my 70th birthday. A few years back I had thought of having a big party when this time came to mark the occasion. I was going to call it “My Threescore Years & Ten” celebration. I wanted to let my friends know how blessed I felt. I wanted to thank God for granting me what the Good Book speaks about in the 90th Psalm, verse 19, where it is written,
The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. (King James Version)
A few hours ago I was granted my 70 years. My health is generally good and all else being equal, I will, until I am proven wrong, assume that God will grant me another decade. After all, my father was in his 10th decade when he died. Yet no earlier generation’s age at death is a solid predictor of the next generation’s expiration.
As I approached this date, I had second thoughts about a big party. What would really be the point? God would know how I felt with or without a festivity. If I had one, people would have a great time and then life would go on. Some would misunderstand the extravagance I went to. It would be over and life would go on. The feelings and thoughts of the writer of Ecclesiastes were circulating over and over in my head.
Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 1:2; King James Version)
The plans I had shared with my family and a few close friends for my party were canceled.
For some unbeknownst reason my thoughts and my focus now turned obsessively to how I would spend any free time I had the day I reached 70 (today onward). What meaningful activity besides my ongoing responsibilities would I pursue in my 8th decade of life, or at least that part of it I would be allowed to experience? I strongly felt the need for something new, something more. I knew getting to 70 was a milestone. I also had recently read that lifespans were getting longer and we would be wise to plan for a retirement that could take us to 100. God forbid. Surely, they jest? But maybe not, for as I write, my wife’s mother and father are 93 and almost 97, respectively.
I considered what I enjoyed doing, what I could do, and what would be meaningful for me as well as others. Many of my activities already satisfied most of those criteria. But was there something more I could do? In my quiet times with God, I asked Him daily for some clear guidance in this regard. And then it came. It came one night while I was tossing and turning in bed, partially thinking about this yet unresolved question and partly thinking about where I had so cleverly hidden my car keys over a month earlier prior to going on a trip to Europe.
My wife and I have owned a golf condo in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for 18 years now. I still have a half decent set of clubs. I remember my golf performances which often reached 18-hole par numbers after my 12th hole. I remember dreaming about finishing two-under-par with a score of 70 one day. For some reason, all this came to my mind that night in bed. And then it hit me.
“70 is not my golf score; it’s my age!” The guidance God was giving me said, “Write a book and share your life. Share what you have seen, learned and believed. Encourage your readers with the knowledge that even a very blessed life is, as the Psalmist said, full of labor and sorrow. Share your joys and share your disappointments. Share the knowledge, perhaps even the little wisdom, that you’ve picked up over the years, and above all, give them hope by which to keep on keeping on. Help them find their purpose and pursue it.”
Ask any good golfer and they’ll tell you it takes years to reach a level of play where you can consistently score as low as 70 on your game. And some of us never reach that caliber. Reaching age 70, however, comes easily, consistently, and on time. You don’t even have to work at it. That does not mean that the accomplishment is any less meaningful. In fact, when one looks closely at the life of any 70-year-old, one will find, sometimes hidden deeply, a story that is rich in experience, passion, thought, struggle, faith, and love.
The living book you are about to read is mainly my story. I also believe it is, to some extent, your story because I have always had this notion that much of what one man (or woman) experiences or ponders is experienced or thought of by many, many others. After all, were we not all created in the image of God? If so, we are bound to have similar thoughts and feelings under similar circumstances. Regrettably most of us, including me for many years, never took the time to record them, fearing we would be ridiculed.
I was no longer prepared to be silenced by any such fear.
Through this writing, I want to share ideas and feelings I believe you will identify with. I hope then you will be encouraged to act on those ideas, or at the very least share them with others in your life.
Please join me in this adventure. You can catch every episode on this blog. All you need to do is click on the “subscribe by email” button to the right – there is no catch, except to ask you to share ‘our’ story with others.
Until next time, don’t be afraid of 70 no matter how far away it is or how long ago you passed it.
And do tell me what you think. Writers get their nourishment from their readers. -- KBG.
And do tell me what you think. Writers get their nourishment from their readers. -- KBG.
It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.
