Leadership Journal

From my journal: Last Saturday I led a memorial service for Grace Dorothy Busky, 95 and one-half years old, who had died peacefully in her sleep. When Grace was born, the automobile and the airplane were experiments. There was no air conditioning, cell phones, or refrigerators. She faced two world wars, an influenza epidemic, an economic depression and recovery, and the onset of the knowledge society with its computers, internet, and spam-spreaders.

Grace crossed the line into conscious faith in Jesus in her mid-sixties when members of her family and people from a local church told her the old, old story in such a way that she finally got it. No TV evangelist, no spiffy CD-rom—just some plain folk sharing faith. From that point forward she organized her life around the love of Jesus.

When Grace Busky was born, life expectancy in America hovered around forty years. During her years, this number doubled to about eighty thanks to medicine, nutrition, and technology.

Question: what does one do with the gift of all those extra years?

Some people seem to have the answer; most don't. A few years back Bob Buford stirred the pot with his call to social entrepreneurship for second-half people. It's an admirable idea, but it seems to be designed exclusively for the rich, many of whom live a "gaited" Christian life flying from conference to conference at five-star resorts where they can enjoy worship and inspiration from the best musicians and speakers that money can buy. Plain folks not invited.

We may need another kind of Bob Buford who talks to the millions of un-rich "Graces" who once did the grunt-work of the church but suddenly found themselves spectating on the sidelines because the church was on to other generations with new music, ideas about worship(?), and notions about the true nature of the Christian life.

What do the "Graces" have to offer? Every older person has a life story which, if one had the time and the curiosity, is worth hearing. People who proudly sport gray hair can usually recount experiences about suffering, initiating and building relationships, principles of work, and the landmarks and landmines of a lifelong spiritual journey. The lack of such storytelling may be among a church's greatest losses.

Older people have time (which often does not have to be paid for), and more than a few of them are ready to accept serious positions of responsibility in the staff life of a church. Older people can become grandparent-types and offer a church's children the benefits of multi-generational relationship, which is too often in short supply today. Older people can pray. Older people just have to be challenged, acknowledged, and appreciated.

Every small group should adopt one older person or couple as a core part of its life together. Every pastor should sit regularly with a small group of seniors and invite their comments and questions. Every Christian should acquire an older mentor.

What brings this all to mind? Grace's memorial service and how ...