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thc talkative stranger, or the person
at the door.
Physical danger is not limited to
criminal activity. A real but little
talked-about danger is "parent
abuse." In England it is called
"granny-slamming." In growing
numbers cases are surfacing of
teenagers or adults physically or
psychologically abusing elderly
parents or grandparents that they
are unprepared to cope with. Abuse
may range from beatings to heavy
doses of sedatives.
lt
is estimated
that of elderly people living with
family members, 1O percent have
been or are being abused.
The technology- and industry–
bascd system with its built-in infla–
tion inflicts yet another hardship
upon the older generation: econom–
ic privation. The real value of small
pensions or other fixed income, as
well as savings, is constantly being
gnawed away by inflation. The
price of food, rent, transportation
and medica! care steadily mounts.
The value of money shrinks. And
the older become poorer.
l t is in the industrialized, mon–
ey-oricnted cultures that the cus–
tom of retiring older people from
the working force is most abrupt
and traumatic. A diligent, wage–
earning, productive worker at age
65
too often has become in one
day's time a nonwage-earning
dependent-suddenly old, cast out
of the working community.
A Natural Resource
What a waste! You can talk about
pcople wasted by society's neglect
of the handicapped. You can point
to the lives society wastes when it
sends its young men to die in its
wars. You can bemoan the lives
wasted in society's crowded prisons
and on skid row. But socicty's
ncglect of the elderly is in many
respects the greatest waste of all.
Why? For one thing, because
thcy have lived the longest. Thcy
are the richest resource in terms of
experience in dealing with life and
life's challenges.
Imagine, if you will, a person
going through kindergarten, gram–
mar school, junior high school ,
high school, junior college, college,
doing postgraduate work, sacrific–
ing, working hard, finally obtaining
a doctorate in sorne field, and thcn
September 1984
being told he must quit and be
unproductive the rest of his days.
Sound unreasonable?
lt
would
be.
Most older people have gone
through the "school of hard
knocks"; by experience they have
learned valuable lessons about han–
dling life's difficult moments as well
as its rewarding moments. And what
happens when they are at the stage
in life where they could share that
information with younger genera–
tions? The younger generations for
the most par t turna deaf ear.
Modern youth-oriented society
as it is set up simply does not
warmly welcome the participation
of the elderly. It does not as a
whole show a genuine interest in
the well-being of its senior mem–
bers.
Solving the problem must begin
with a change of attitude. The
younger generations can begin to
show genuine honor and kindness
and care.
The law of God, as summed up
in the Ten Commandments, specif–
ically the Fifth Commandment,
strikes directly at the root of this
problem: the attitude of the young–
er generations toward the older
generation. The Fifth Command–
ment stipulatcs: "Honour thy
father and thy mother"
(Ex.
20:12).
Your Bible shows how elders
should be respected, the place they
ought to occupy in a society orga–
nized God's way, the way it will be
when God restores his government
to this earth.
Gray hair is to be regarded as a
"crown of glory" (Prov.
16:31;
20:29).
l t is not something to be
ashamed of, or that needs to be
dyed. Younger people are to "rise
up" in the presence of the aged
(Lev.
19:32).
Their advice and
cou nsel are to be sought and
heeded (Prov.
23:22-23).
The aged
are to be the wisest members of
"Have something
new to learn. 1 am
still planning ahead.
Young people, it is
good to listen to old
people. 1 advise you
learn different trades.
Variety keeps the
mind going and
avoids drudgery."
Paul Pasche, 80
society- here is where sorne
elderly have failed. They are to
teach the young the right way to
live ( Job 32:7; Titus
2:2-5).
The Western world has it back–
ward.
It
has the older generation
dependent upon the younger gener–
ations. God's way is for the young–
er generations to be dependent for
wisdom upon the older generation
(Prov. 13:22;
ll
Cor. 12:14)!
The basis of a stable society is a
strong, extended family circle
anchored to the family property
and investments. The world is
learning the hard way that once a
society cuts its ties with the land
and residential property, it sets
itself adrift. Notice how the Fifth
Commandment in its entirety
makes mention of the land in con–
nection with sound family relations:
"Honour thy father and thy moth-
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