You’ve heard the line, “You know you’re getting old when…” There are all kinds of ways to finish that sentence: You know you’re getting old when you and your teeth sleep separately; or, you know you’re getting old when you’re the first guy to the public urinals and the last one to leave.

Well, there is another way to tell you’re getting old, and that is go to a concert of a band from your youth. This week a friend of mine called me up and said he had two tickets to see Randy Bachman.

Now if you don’t have a clue who I’m talking about, you were born before the 1930’s, or after the 70’s and you’re not Canadian. Randy Bachman was a founding member of The Guess Who, and then went on to form another band called Bachman Turner Overdrive (BTO).

This concert was a little different, as it was at the Grand Theatre in Kingston, and not at an arena. It was a little more intimate and wasn’t about the performer playing song after song. Bachman was there to tell stories of his life in the music industry and how the songs were written.

The stories and music were amazing. When the band would start to play an old classic, I found that I kept picturing myself back in my teens. But then I looked around and saw all these old people around me.

I couldn’t get over how many old people liked “BTO”. When I say old, I don’t just mean a little grey hair – we’re talking wrinkled skin, unruly eyebrows and white hair. These people were ancient!

I felt like a kid amongst them. I was trying to figure out how much older most of the crowd was than me, and they had to average about 10 years plus.

I knew going in that the crowd wasn’t going to be young. I’d been to a Rolling Stones concert when I was about 40 and everyone there was my age or older. But that was nothing compared to this group. I saw canes, and there was a line up for the men’s washroom … when does that ever happen?!

During the intermission, I found myself staring at people trying to figure out what they might have looked like when they were in their teens or early twenties. I would look at them and squint to see if I could picture them appearing wrinkle-free.

It was about then that I realized I had been remembering myself back when I was in my teens and, in reality, I kind of fit in with these old folks. Of course, I was on the much younger side of the crowd . . . but it probably wasn’t that obvious, except to me.

I thought to myself, “What happened to these people?” Then I thought, “What happened to me?!”

. . . We’re getting old, that’s what’s happening! It was all a little disconcerting.  But the music made me feel like I was 18 again. Thanks Randy . . .  both of you.

Here’s the thing: Even though we get older and mature physically and spiritually, God still sees us as His children. We need to remember we have that kind of relationship with Him when we are with Him in prayer. Enjoy!

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What experience of the past causes you to reminisce about how your life with Christ has changed?  Leave your comment below.