Marathon runner
Special to United Methodist Insight
At age 85, one of the things I’ve learned about my self is different body parts age at different rates:
- My eyes are 87. I can no longer read anything smaller than 12-point type without reading glasses.
- My legs are 56; while I no longer run a marathon, but I am still a competitive 800-meter runner in Senior Olympics.
- My hair is 88; I need a washrag more than a comb.
- My arms are 58; I can still do 40 pushups and a 3-minute plank.
- My hearing is 87; I rely on the hearing aid in my right ear. If there is background noise, I only nod my head and pretend that I hear you.
- My teeth are 65; I have one root canal and normal filings, but they all still present and functioning.
- My mind is 95; the fact that I would write this self-absorbed “who-gives-a-damn” article is proof of a deteriorating brain.
- My hand and fingers are 55; I still have the dexterity to type faster than my mind can think.
- My soul is 102 mellow years old. I no longer care whether you understand the Graf-Wellhausen Hypothesis of the Pentateuch or the Q source of the synoptic gospels. I only want you to tell me what you have learned on your spiritual pilgrimage.
A longtime United Methodist communicator, the Rev. Rich Peck of Nashville, Tenn., is a retired clergy member of the New York Annual Conference.