REMEMBER YOUR GRAND CREATOR!

Effects of Advancing Age

Solomon next points to difficulties "in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the men of vital energy have bent themselves, and the grinding women have quit working because they have become few, and the ladies seeing at the windows have found it dark." (Ecclesiastes 12:3) The "house" denotes the human body. (Matthew 12:43-45) 2 Corinthians 5:1-8) Its "keepers" are the arms and hands, which protect the body and supply its needs. In old age they often tremble with weakness, nervousness and palsy. "The men of vital energy" -the legs -no longer are sturdy pillars but have weakened and bend so that the feet merely shuffle along. Yet, are you not happy to see elderly fellow believers at Christian meetings?

The grinding women have quit working because they have become few" -but how? The teeth may have decayed or been lost, with few if any left. Grinding solid food is difficult or ceased altogether. "The ladies seeing at the windows" -the eyes coupled with the mental faculties by which we see -become dim, if not completely dark.

"And," continues the congregator, "the doors onto the street have been closed, when the sound of the grinding mill becomes low, and one gets up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song sound low." (Ecclesiastes 12:4) The two doors of the mouth-the lips-no longer open much at all to express what is in the "house," or body, of those advanced age who do not serve God. Nothing is sent forth on "the street" of public life. Yet, what about zealous elderly Kingdom proclaimers? (Job 41:14) They may walk slowly from house to house and some may speak with difficulty, but they surely praise Jah! -Psalm 113:1.

The sound of the grinding mill becomes low as food is chewed with toothless gums. On his bed an old man does not sleep soundly. Even the chirping of a bird disturbs him. Few are the songs that he sings, and his rendering of any melody is feeble. "All the daughters of son"-the melodic notes -"sound low." The elderly one's hearing of music song produced by other is poor. However, older anointed ones and their companions, some of whom also are not so young, keep on raising their voices in songs of praise to God at Christian meetings. How glad we are to have them at our side, extolling Jehovah in the congregation! -Psalm 149:1.

How sad the lot of oldsters, especially by those who have ignored the Creator! Says the congregator: "Also, they have become afraid merely at what is high, and there are terrors in the way. And the almond tree carries blossoms, and the grasshopper drags itself along, and the caper berry bursts , because man is walking to his long-lasting house and the wailers have marched around in the street." (Ecclesiastes 12:5) At the top of a high staircase, many of the aged are fearful of falling. Even looking up at something high may make them dizzy. When they must go out into crowded streets, they are struck with terror at the thought of injury or assault by thieves.

Next time: Conclusion of Effects of Advancing Age

Watchtower, 1999