|
Dear Friends; 
It hasn’t been much of a summer, has it? Not many opportunities to sit out in the evening, or to use the new sun loungers I so optimistically bought in May! Thank goodness for the Olympics! Not only did Great Britain (Team GB!) do well, with far more medals than they set out to win, but it brought some interest to an otherwise perhaps dull summer.
But the Olympics wasn’t the only interesting thing about summer television. Did you enjoy the weekend that was given over to celebrating the 40th anniversary of ‘Dad’s Army’? We did.
As we all know, comedy today is dominated by young people, while ‘Dad’s Army’ is essentially a comedy about the elderly. Nigel Hopper says that “This reflects historical reality – the lack of strict enforcement of the upper age limit of 65 meant that many an old soldier was able to join the ranks of the Home Guard. Portraying that reality, ‘Dad’s Army’ challenges contemporary assumptions about the elderly and what they’re capable of. Certainly, much of the comedy centres round the ineptitude of Mainwaring and his men, but that’s firmly bound up with their characters, not with their age.”
Old age for some is a painful time, a lonely time, a time of decreasing physical and mental abilities, so we mustn’t romanticise it. The Bible, however, honours old age and values the wisdom it so often brings.
As we look around our congregations, we may think that there aren’t many left to do the honouring and the valuing, as we are what is sometimes describe as ‘ageing congregations’! But I do think that we let ourselves down by thinking that this means we are failing or second class churches and Christians. Nigel Hopper goes on to suggest that by regarding elderly people as worthy of honour and care, we are serving God and helping them to enjoy the freedom we are all meant to have. How do we regard old age? Do we value it in ourselves?
As I get older I realise how much the world is geared around the under-forties. God does not value us because we work long hours or wear trendy clothes. God values us because of who we are, regardless of our age. So three cheers for Dad’s Army!
Pat
| |
|
