Catholic Analysis

In a recent post, I noted the insightful and intelligent book by Yale surgeon and author Sherwin B. Nuland entitled The Art of Aging. As I noted there, Nuland considers himself a nonbeliever, a skeptic of sorts. Yet, I am happy to report that Nuland seems to enjoy reading the New Testament. Here is an example from his discussion of wisdom as requiring us to care for others:

Yale surgeon and clinical professor Sherwin Nuland has written an insightful book worth reading entitled The Art of Aging: A Doctor's Prescription for Well-Being (Random House, 2007). The book is very intelligent and full of wise tidbits. Unfortunately, the author is apparently not a believer of any sort and claims to be a skeptic. Yet, there is wisdom here that unwittingly points to Jesus Christ. Nuland is a firm proponent of vigorous physical exercise as a key to preventing disabilities as we age (and, as he points out, we are all aging as soon as we leave the womb). Yet, one of his friends and colleagues, quoted in the book, begs to disagree on the relative importance of physical exercise in healthy aging:

Here is the link to a N.Y. Times article on Fr. Benedict Groeschel. All who have heard him in person or on EWTN know what a great speaker he is! What sets him apart? He is a man fully in love with Jesus and is thus fully alive in every sense of the term. His mind is alive with mature insight, astuteness, common sense, and deep knowledge. So he is a walking treasure house: he is a model for us of how to mature and how to grow old by becoming voices of wisdom and counsel for all. We are all getting older. We might as well become wiser as we get older. That is the distinctive service of the elders--to impart wisdom. Fr. Groeschel is one of our wise men. In American politics, the phrase "wise men" is used to refer to elder statesmen who, in times of crisis, are called upon for advice. In Catholicism, Fr. Groeschel is one of our elder statesmen. The difference is that his wisdom is wisdom for all of life and for the most important things of life, not just for passing political contingencies and crises. In Proverbs 16:31, we hear that "gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life." Will our gray hairs be crowns of glory, or signs of our decades-long foolishness? Will our gray hairs testify to maturity and wisdom accumulated through struggle and suffering, or will they mock us and amaze others in our continued immaturity and foolishness? Fr. Groeschel is a model of gray hair as a crown of glory. Too many others carry around their gray hairs as a great and astounding contradiction: so many years and still so little wisdom. What can be more becoming to the young than the idealism of chaste love. Likewise, what can be more becoming to elders than deep wisdom. For every age, there is a crown. The young who waste their souls and bodies on promiscuity are a great embarrassment and shame because they throw away the idealism of youthful love. Less excusable and more blameworthy are the old who still prattle inanities and reject the wisdom that should crown gray hairs.

Although Ponce de Leon failed to find the fabled fountain of youth in his explorations, we still keep looking. The advertisements in all media are full of all the ploys: exercise programs, hair and skin tonics, and, of course, remedies for, let us say, intimate (or formerly viewed as intimate) challenges. Then, the more serious media periodically has articles on aging and aging research. The quest for eternal youth is part of the big push for stem cell research.

The irony is that I have observed many young people who are in fact quite old in a negative sense: they are just worn out and sullen. Now, the despair is many times masked by smiles and a superficial joviality. I have learned over the years that such things are, in many people, more cosmetic than real. Many despairing people can flash a smile at will. In contrast, I have seen older people, even people who are physically disabled, really seem youthful: joyful with a happiness that comes from the heart and is not just for display.

We all know the different types: some are just never happy, regardless of their chronological age; others are positive even in the worst situations. If I could put my finger on the one factor determining a positive, youthful outlook, it would be the absence of anxiety. So when Jesus tells us in the Gospels "Do not be anxious" or "Do not be afraid," we have before us the key to real youth, real youth as an attitude of wonder, thanksgiving, and enthusiasm. Real youth expects good things to happen, real youth looks for what is really good, real youth celebrates what is really good, and real youth gives all (as St. Josemaría would say) for the sake of what is really good. Real youth does not resign itself to mediocrity and refuses to accept a dismal status quo, regardless of the resignation of others.

Where have I seen such real youth, even in persons who are very old chronologically and even disabled? I have seen it in persons who praise God. They don't just ask God for things (but, of course, they do that also). These persons praise God because He is good and His world is good. I have also seen chronologically old people who became more sullen with age: they had no God to praise, they had long ago discarded that "fable." So, now, I wait for the next article to come out: praise God to stay young. It has probably been written already. But since it is a free fountain of youth, you won't see it advertised.