Last week on Real Time with Bill Maher Bill did a monologue
about age; he said America is one of the few countries that does not venerate the
aged. He went on to say that old people
are smarter than young people because they have seen it all before.
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| PETER JOHN Traditional Chief of Koyukon Athabaskans RIP |
Having lived for twelve years in Indian, Yup’ik and Inuit villages
of Alaska I can relate first hand to cultures that venerate elders.
I can also agree that every individual is smarter as an
elder than he or she was in their younger years; but, if you were an ignorant
young person, and ignorant middle age person, you are probably going to be an
ignorant old person. It’s all
relative.
I am an elder - and I am one hell of a lot smarter in my
old age than I was as a young person; but, that is not saying much – again it is
all relative.
I have never claimed to
be a sage old owl, but just an Ol’Buzzard that has soared in the air currents
and sat on tree limbs and rocky crags and watched – and now I remember.
Any opinions I have are naturally biased as
they have been filtered through my personal experiences, likes and dislikes, prejudices
and intellect (or lack thereof) during my seventy years+++ of chaos.
As an elder I look at the current state of affairs and am
not particularly concerned. I have seen
this all before: war, social ills, prejudice, bigotry, confusion, dysfunctional
government, politicians motivated by selfish avarice, ignorance and religious
fervor.
The one thing I can say for sure is that we never learn and
we will do it all over again: we are destine to perform the same play, slightly
modified to time and place, and with different actors – but with the same
outcome.
ADVICE FROM AN ELDER
Don’t despair - there are things you can do: get a nice
bottle of wine, enjoy a good meal, have sex with your significant other and
chill out.
A ZEN STORY
A man came to the Buddha seeking contentment. He
said, “I want happiness.”
The Buddha replied, “First remove the ‘I’ that is ego. Then remove the ‘want’ that is desire. Now you are left only with happiness.”
Enjoy the Now.
the Ol’Buzzard
