The Bible is very clear that the elderly are due respect. “You shall rise up before the gray-headed and honor the aged, and you shall revere your God; I am the Lord” (Lev. 19:32). Respect for aged parents is the way we give respect to God himself. It’s probably more telling than worship on Sunday mornings. Jesus, even on the cross, remembered how important it was for someone to take care of his mother after his death (John 19:26-27). Your parents gave their lives to raise you, and they deserve respect for that. They deserve honor and not denigration.
No, this is not about politics; it’s about growing old. Thanks to Joe Biden the image of the elderly in this country has taken a major hit. Old people have become the target of abrasive comedians and callous television pundits. The elderly are now funny people, and even sometimes hilarious. They do silly things. That’s the persona of old people. They are entertaining at best and a nuisance at worst. They are people to be tolerated, viewed as buffoons, and avoided as much as possible.
With aging comes a loss of memory, the inability to speak fluidly, and a dangerous gait in moving from place to place—and yes, there is much more that can’t be mentioned. We cannot do what we used to do, and it’s difficult to admit it. Sometimes we do indeed embarrass ourselves.
My wife and I have had the privilege (and yes it was a privilege) of caring for an aging parent when the parent was unable to take care of herself. It was much more demanding than raising three children and sending them off to college. The physical exigencies were sometimes overwhelming, and it took a mental toll that at times put us on the edge of despair. Sometimes we were tempted to be angry with God, but our faith kept us from doing that. When you bring an elderly parent into your home needing constant care, everything changes, especially when they are still mobile and yet unable to take care of themselves.
Thank God that on occasion there is a little humor that can be found in it all. I remember my mother who had dementia enjoying a visit from my son with his new fiancé. This was her first time being introduced to the family. Since his fiancé resembled my daughter, Mom said to my son, with some embarrassment to us all, “So, you married your sister, did you!” Then, later on that same day, as my son’s fiancé was introduced to my wife’s mother, who had Alzheimer’s disease, my wife’s mother pointed to the picture of a child mounted on the wall of her living room, and boasted to my son’s fiancé how proud she was that this was my son’s child, that is, the child of her soon-to-be-husband. After explaining everything to her, she married my son anyway.
The Bible is very clear that the elderly are due respect. “You shall rise up before the gray-headed and honor the aged, and you shall revere your God; I am the Lord” (Lev. 19:32). Respect for aged parents is the way we give respect to God himself. It’s probably more telling than worship on Sunday mornings. Jesus, even on the cross, remembered how important it was for someone to take care of his mother after his death (John 19:26-27). Your parents gave their lives to raise you, and they deserve respect for that. They deserve honor and not denigration.
Now, on the other hand, as people do grow old, they need to realize their limitations. I think most of us can see decline in ourselves. It’s a wise old man who knows when to quit. Decline often comes slowly but we can see and feel it.
However, our pride sometimes prevents us from recognizing this fact. We want to do things we did when we were young, but we should know better. When we are unwilling to change with our age, then it is not pleasing to God and it’s not fair to others. It can be humiliating. It’s a little like taking Grandma to the beach and she still thinks she can wear a bikini, or like Grandpa who still thinks he can still jump over a four-foot fence.
When old people refuse to admit the limitations of their age they disappoint us. They can become angry and dangerous. So can we! I remember when it was time to take my mother’s car keys away from her. Everywhere she drove in the car she always came home with dents in the car (which she covered with duct-tape). She was a danger to others on the road and we children had to recognize that. She was furious with us.
Now the problem with Joe Biden, regardless of his politics, is that he is too old to be President of the United States. He has become an embarrassment. He is not up to the job. He is dangerous.
When some large corporations require retirement of management at 55 years of age, what does this say about the man in the White House? What is needed is humility on the part of the man himself to step aside. But it appears that he does not have either the wisdom or the humility to do what is needed. Therefore, rather than hiding his shortcomings from the public, as a loving family would do, he is paraded around as an oddity out of a circus.
Too, he is now the prototype for old people. Rather than honoring old people as the Bible demands, we (I’m including myself) are now the butt of humor as just silly old people. Sometimes we can laugh at ourselves along with others who are laughing at us, and sometimes we can’t.
It’s time for Biden to step aside, not only for his own sake, but for the sake of our country. And not only for the sake of the country, but for sake of the image of old people in this nation. Being old is now a joke thanks to Joe Biden. It should not be that way.
Larry E. Ball is a retired minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and is now a CPA. He lives in Kingsport, Tenn.