May 29
Companions of the Way (Morning)Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God.
THERE is a passage in the Laws of Plato . . . where an aged person is described dwelling in a house, a blessing to all the inhabitants of it, honoured as a divinity; and the gods themselves are pleased when they see the aged one receiving love and honour, and are propitious to that house which contains an image of themselves. Age, like youth, is a blessed time, and perhaps the most important members of a family are the oldest and the youngest in it. It totters in its steps, and also sometimes in its thoughts and words; but yet it may preserve a sort of continuity of mind by trusting in God. . . . When we feel ourselves weakest, it is a new strength to think of the unchangeableness of God.
Letter from BENJAMIN JOWETT
OLD AGE