The Mystery of Old Age
Nona L. Brooks
Mysteries,
1924.
Divine Science Federation
Int’l
3rd Printing, 1977.
Copyright Material
Reprinted by Permission
Why do we
get old? If the Law of Life is continuous
progression, why do signs of age appear
to us? How shall we account for the
decrepitude that seems to accompany the
later years of life? These appear to be
mysteries, but there is a solution of any
mystery in the contemplation of the life
process from the basis of Omnipresence.
Life is eternal progression in the
thought of those who are keeping the
faith. In the real there is no
stagnation, neither is there
retrogression. There is change in the
process in the visible, but nothing is
lost. Years are dreaded and feared by
many because age, as we call it, has
usually been accompanied by loss of power
and joy; we are learning to live now,
however, so that the signs that follow
the passing of years are being done away
with.
It is
difficult to understand the experience of
old age as we see it, unless we consider
for a moment the fixed habit of thought
in relation to the burden of time upon
men. The race has thought for ages in
terms of time; we have emphasized a past
and a future, instead of a present. Why
not live in the eternal present? In it we
do not get old. He who lives in his
thought in a living present begins to see
the place of what we call age in the
unfoldment of man. I am glad for every
year; a birthday is a landmark in
progress, not in deterioration. It is
worthwhile to have lived three hundred
and sixty-five days well, my friend. Have
you ever thought of your birthdays in
this way?
Old age does
not mean the burden of years; it means
the fruition of a life. Years are our
friends, not our enemies, if we live in
harmony with these, and think of them as
opportunities for development. Each day
of the year is in itself an opportunity
to realize more of truth; but unwisely we
resist the passing of the years instead
of cooperating in spirit with the seeming
flight of time. It is human ignorance in
relation to process that makes us old,
not the experiences of time in its
passing. It is our attitude toward time
that keeps us free from the limitations
that the race would burden us with.
What about
the signs of age? These are unnecessary
in the world of continuous progression.
There are some of us who are learning to
come up over the old thought habits that
made us feel weak and incapable. We are
learning to demonstrate. It has been said
that you and I are as old as we feel and
act. I believe that we are. Age is a
belief about the body; youth is of the
soul; it is the joy of living. Age is the
concept of separation from this very joy
of living. I like to feel the dignity of
the years, and I am proud of having lived
a good many. Years I count not as the
passing of time, but as opportunities for
the gathering of wisdom. The well-spent
years are very rich.
A race
belief in a material process has
dominated our thinking for many years.
What are we going to do about it? Why not
begin today to change our attitude toward
the experience of age? There will never
be a better time than now. Some people
are getting old; others are growing old.
There is a difference in the results of
viewing age from a material or from a
spiritual point of view. Which shall we
see--youth and progress or decline and
stagnation? This lies with you and me.
Are we watching the passing of the years
and believing that with each one we lose
strength, intelligence, power, joy? Some
of us believe so strongly that as we get
old certain faculties grow weaker and are
finally lost. Is this true or do we only
think it is? Why are we seeing decay? The
question is easily answered; we are
thinking it. Men do not have to go down
hill until their process ends, as we say,
in death. To be here and not to live is
the only death there is. If we consecrate
our living to development in
consciousness, we shall come into the
whole truth about man. The knowledge of
all the processes of life is with man.
The belief in disease and old age is a
phase of our misconception about
ourselves.
It is
difficult to tell just what old age is,
even if we feel old. We are told by
natural scientists that the body is in a
condition of change, and that no part of
it is over a year old at a given time,
unless it be the teeth, which change
about every two years. It is self-evident
that age is a mental condition. The world
has so long believed in process with a
beginning and an end that we have much to
overcome. The question may be asked, "If
disease is a mental condition, why should
animals be ill?" It is a case of the
higher influencing the lower; animals
respond to the thoughts of men; they do
not originate mental images of
imperfection, but they follow ours.
Thought
bridges all things. There is neither
space nor time that thought cannot
obliterate. There is no age in eternal
Being, neither is there youth. There is
only one Source of life and health--God.
We are illumined when we recognize our
Source. The cause of all ills is the
turning of the thought to an outer
source. In the external there are all
kinds of misconceptions; we are
self-hypnotized into believing that there
is much wrong with us because we are
getting old. We get old resisting the
outer. The only power that the external
has is what we give to it. The race has
believed in the decrepitude of old age
for centuries; therefore, men have been
greatly afflicted with the burden of
years; they have watched for and
emphasized the symptoms of advancing
years. We are still yielding to race
conceptions.
There is
neither youth nor age to the one who
knows God as his Life; there is
increasingly powerful living. The use of
our faculties should not be affected by
the addition of years. What are years in
themselves? How shall we keep young? How
shall we overcome the belief in years? It
is all worked from within. The mentality
must be kept active and powerful by
identifying it with the one Mind which
knows neither youth nor age. Let us keep
alert; inertia is a sign that we are
forgetting to keep close to God. Loss of
memory is another one of the ills that we
bring upon ourselves by misconception.
Divine Mind never forgets; it never
overlooks a blade of grass in this
Universe of its creating. As we identify
with Divine Mind we see that there is no
loss of memory possible, for constant
activity is the state of Infinite Mind.
Do not listen to the race belief that
because we have lived on this plane of
existence for three score years and ten
we must begin to retrograde; there is no
truth in it. Listen to the Life Principle
speaking always in terms of Life, Life,
Life!
Inertia
keeps you out of the kingdom; alertness
leads you in, if it is the alertness of
truth in you. Keep alive; stay young; be
joyful. Life is ever new; there is
nothing old. Take your part in the
progressive life of the race; do not stay
behind. Thrill with the meaning of each
new discovery in the world of natural
science. Know yourself for what you
are--a child of the living God. Keep
close to little children; they love life
and are happy.
There is
nothing like the outpouring of love to
keep us young. Do not allow the
suggestion of years to enter into your
thought about the conduct of life. He who
thinks he can’t run, can’t;
and he finds that he is falling behind in
more ways than one. Remember that the
strong man rejoices to run the race as
much as he rejoices in reaching the goal.
Consider your birthdays as days marking
progression. Take no thought for
tomorrow. The tomorrows will take care of
themselves. Keep the present rich, vital,
alive with God. Live more buoyantly and
more abundantly. Forget the race
misconceptions. Do not think that you
must wait until you die to know Eternal
Life. Life in its fullness is here
now.
Make for
yourself a list of the outstanding
qualities of eternal youth. Ask yourself,
"Am I learning to apply these qualities
more truly with the passing of days? Am I
expressing the inherencies of youth in my
thinking and my doing?" Check up! Can you
place a yes beside the following
qualities: buoyancy, alertness, vitality,
appreciation, cheerfulness, powerfulness?
If you can, you are not getting old.
Is old age
mysterious? Wherein lies the mystery?
Perhaps there has been a mystery to those
who did not understand that life is
eternal progression. We grow old in
wisdom, love, and joy, with the years.
That is well. The mystery is solved; it
was in your thought and mine. Life is
eternally young; it is ever new. We
thought it had an end. We thought we saw
process end in the individual; but that
is not true, for process is universal and
eternal. Yielding to the race conceptions
we looked old and showed the results of
our thinking in signs of age. We called
this a mystery, while it was only the
effect of a cause in our thinking. The
mystery of old age is solved; it is the
sign that follows a thought process. Now
that the mystery is solved, why not stay
young?
"And thine age shall be clearer than
the noonday: thou shalt shine forth;
thou shalt be as the morning."
--Job 11:17.
* * * * *
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