Martin Sheen, the 66-year old actor best known for his roles in Apocalypse Now and Wall Street has gone back to school. Sheen enrolled in the National University of Ireland, Galway and will take courses in English Literature, Philosophy and Oceanography.

—http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=609&id=1298322006 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

As long as a person is curious, he/she isn't too old to learn or accomplish great things.

Joshua 13:1 (HCSB) "Joshua was now old, advanced in years, and the lord said to him, "you have become old, advanced in years, but a great deal of the land remains to be possessed."

What two things do Michelangelo, Benjamin Franklin, Georgia O'Keeffe, Frank Lloyd Wright and Martha Graham have in common? The first one, of course is easy, they were all creative people. The second thing may not be so obvious. All of them continued to create into their '70's and beyond. Michelangelo completed his work in the Vatican at 75. Franklin was 78 when he invented bi-focal glasses, something most of us need by our mid-40's. O'Keeffe painted well into her 90's, Wright worked on the Guggenheim Museum until he died at 91 and Graham danced until her mid-70's, and choreographed for another two decades.

Judith Salerno, deputy director of the National Institute on Aging says, "We need to begin thinking about late life as an opportunity for people to explore." Dean Keith Simonton, a psychology professor at the University of California Davis says, "Forget it if you want to take up tennis in your 50's and become a world-class player. But creating things is not a speed test."

Before you dismiss your potential to be creative in your twilight years, consider how old Noah was when he built the Ark or Joshua was when he led in the conquest. Who knows, your best years may be ahead of you.

Psalm 71:18 (KJV) "Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come."

At the start of the annual British Open Golf Tournament in 2009, the media focused primarily on two players: Tiger Woods, the number one ranked golfer in the world, and Padraig Harrington, the winner of the two previous British Opens. Tiger had already won three tournaments on the PGA tour earlier in the year, even though he was still recovering from surgery the previous year.

The excitement was high. But no one expected the results. In fact, the word “shocked” described most people’s reaction to the results better than any other.

Woods failed to make the cut after the second round. Harrington, the two-time returning champ finished the tournament tied for 65th place. And the biggest surprise which produced a worldwide frenzy was the early lead by Tom Watson, a 59 year old player, who has won this particular tournament more times than any other golfer – the last time being 26 years earlier.

Watson’s name was on top of the leader board throughout most of the tournament, causing many to wonder if he would become the oldest player ever to win an open golf tournament. Mistakes cost him an extra stroke on the very last hole of the final round, producing a tie and then a tie-breaker. Watson lost the tiebreaker, but he won the hearts of many around the world as they cheered for him to rewrite the record books and send a clarion message that life can be productive even in the senior years.

Most people gave Watson no chance of winning, because he was old and because he had not won a tournament in 26 years. Do you feel the same way about senior adults? Do you believe that after a certain age a person has no more use?

At the age of 59, Watson came very close to finishing his course with a victory. But what about you, especially as a Christian living out the Christian life? God promises that He will be faithful to complete in you what He has begun. So whatever He calls you to do at any age, fight the good fight, finish your course, and keep the faith.

--http://bugleobserver.canadaeast.com/sports/article/742250 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Randy Langham

2 Timothy 4:6-7 (NASB)6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;

When does a person begin to be old? New data indicates that the precise age at which an average person hits the low point of the lifelong “happiness curve” is 47.19. Suddenly the ticking of the clock grows much louder.

We know that we begin to age the day we are born. Most of us don’t think of 48 as past the prime of life. Knowing that some people do, we can take care to support them as they worry about getting old.

We must be careful about trying to put them on the shelf before God is through with them. –Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell.

The Colorado Peaches plays softball with a purpose. "Our purpose is to empower senior women to grow physically, mentally and spiritually by contributing time and effort developing camaraderie in the spirit of play."

https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2021/10/27/Colorado-Peaches-oldest-softball-team/1391635365673/

“As you see, the Lord has kept me alive these forty-five years as he promised, since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel was journeying in the wilderness. Here I am today, eighty-five years old. I am still as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me out. My strength for battle and for daily tasks is now as it was then. Now give me this hill country the Lord promised me on that day, because you heard then that the Anakim are there, as well as large fortified cities. Perhaps the Lord will be with me and I will drive them out as the Lord promised.”