Calke Abbey: Getting Old

Yesterday we visited Calke Abbey, a National Trust property in Derbyshire. We learnt about the original medieval priory, the rich and famous, links with royalty, falling into disrepair…

We walked round the house… old pictures, old furniture, artefacts linked to the Calke of bygone days…

I’m spending a couple of days with my two older brothers. I sometimes think that I am old…

Some things that get older wear out – the old pair of shoes, the broken television, the rotten garden shed. Some things pass their sell-by date – the loaf of bread, the bag of oranges, the pack of bacon…

…We’re wearing out. Things that used to work well are now less efficient; the mind that used to manage instant recall now takes more than an instant. I used to smile at the ‘I take these tablets for…. What are you taking?’ conversations. Now it’s us.

Some things that get older improve with age. The fine wine, the antique porcelain, the vintage car. I can see in my brothers an improvement with age….

As I’ve got older I’ve become more grateful… for past blessings… for family and friends… for my current situation. Each day I’m appreciative of life and health, food, nature… things that in the past I may have taken for granted.

As I’ve got older things seem to be more simple. In all of the complexities of life priorities become clearer, people are more honest about life and death, there’s a clarity in faith but an openness to not having all of the answers.

Musing on James: ‘What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes…’

At Calke Abbey yesterday summer’s green leaves are starting to turn to beautiful shades of red and brown. Winter is coming; as we walked through the woods I appreciated the beauty of autumn.

Getting older is about accepting that winter will come but enjoying the autumnal beauty of today.