The Eternal Beauty of Our Wisdom Keepers

People now live long into old age. We live past the age of raising our young, seeing them successfully launched into the world, and raising young of their own. Grandparents are necessary to help raise and guide the next generation. Do we recognize that our elders are essential to society?

We, but especially women, are thought to grow less attractive the older we get. Babies are adorable and need us to protect them and care for them. There is an intrinsic urge to love a baby. Children are precious and exuberantly grow into teenagers with the development of sexual characteristics.

Our culture seems to view sexuality as the definition of attractiveness, modeled in later adolescence and young adulthood. Once one hits 30, 40, 50 years of age, the physical appeal is often left behind. If one’s esteem is based on appearance, one begins to struggle with self-worth after their sex appeal diminishes.

We age. Wrinkles pop up and soon lines crease our faces, necks, arms, and legs. Age spots appear. We can no longer physically do the things we could in our youth. Hair turns grey then white; its texture changes. Our bodies sag and our bellies expand. Gone are the sexually appealing characteristics of our youth. Our teeth yellow. Our noses (and nose hair!) continue to grow. We dye our hair and workout our bodies in the attempts of slowing down the process. Some continue to want to be sexually appealing long into middle and even old age.

We look down on our elderly. We look past our elderly. New is what is exciting. The elderly struggle to keep pace with the latest in technology. Youth are the masters of the information age. Wisdom seems not to be needed; the elderly are cast-off. Words of wisdom attempt to be imparted only to be ignored by the young who think they know best.

Historically and culturally, the elderly were the wisdom keepers and not hidden away in homes especially designed for them. We used to care for the aged in our own homes. These days, people work longer hours and there just is no time. No time to care for the young and less time to care for the old, whose bodies and minds no longer function at par.

We fear old age as it is one step closer to death. We fear death. We fear not being attractive. The outside appearances are more important than the inner wisdom and beauty.

Photo Edu Carvalho, Pexels

Today, look closely and see the light within. See the Light of Eternal Beauty within each individual, no matter how young or old, attractive or unattractive on the outside. Respond to the Light. Then, and only then, will we be living our birthright as sons and daughters of the Divine. As long as our culture prioritizes the outward at the expense of the inward, we are on a spaceship traveling in circles.