American society does not appreciate gifts of the elderly

The dictionary definition of prejudice is: “A preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or experience.” The second definition flows from the first. “Unjust behavior formed on such a basis.” The word comes from two Latin words that means “judgment in advance.”

Let’s be honest. We are all prejudice in one form or another. This might have come from our upbringing, our limited experience with people who are different from us, the way we look at the world or the way we look at our God. Part of our prejudice is rooted in the mentality that these others are inferior to us. We are better than they.

Prejudice comes in many forms. It can be based on one’s race, economic and social status, gender, nationality, cultural background, sexual orientation, and age. Most of these areas I have addressed in previous articles but I have not touched on “Ageism.”

We love to make jokes about people getting old. Look at all the birthday card we sent to people indicating that they are at the age when they are about to “fall apart.” When we become 65, we are true senior citizens, a polite way of saying we are “old.” Yet, we don’t feel “old.” We keep going and we try to be the same person we always were.

Our society is production-oriented. We can build just about anything. We ask people, “What do you do?” as if that were the important question that defines who we are. We are not what we do.

The person we have become over the last six, seven, eight, nine decades defines our very being. We have experienced life and picked up wisdom. We can still do many things, maybe a little slower, but our aches and pains should not keep us from being active.

Sr. Joan Chittister in her book, “The Gift of Years” says, “Once you reach retirement age in this culture, everything is canceled. We’re ‘old’ n translate ‘useless,’ translate ‘unwanted,’ translate ‘out of place,’ translate ‘incompetent.’ We are the over-the-hill gang, our birthday cards say. And we laugh n as well as we can n but, if truth were known, the laugh comes with such a stab in the psyche.”

Look at our television programs. How many of them portray the elderly as wise persons with the experience of years ready to guide people in life? More often they betray them as objects of jokes, who are not very bright. The stereotype is so different from reality. Researchers tell us that only 5 percent of those over 65 are in special-care institutions, and 80 percent of the rest of the older population have no limitations in managing the rigors of daily living.

We should all live fully until we die. We should keep active and pursue some activities we could not do when we were working full time. We should also develop our interior life that we might have neglected because of the many tasks we had to do before retirement. We should never let other people’s stereotypes define who we are. God wants our continual growth.

We can still exercise our mind, body and spirit and become a more loving person. We can get in touch with our mission in life n to make this a better world somehow. A Yiddish Proverb says. “Old age, to the unlearned, is winter; to the learned, it is harvest time.”

Senior citizens should not look back at their failures and mistakes. The past is gone. We are still alive so God is not finished with us. The rocking chair can be a death trap. Use the gifts that God has given you wisely. Dr. Wayne Dyer said, “The state of your life is nothing more than a reflection of your state of mind.”