America is a culture that worships youth. People here live fast, work hard and play hard. The media is all about young, thin and beautiful. The cultural pressure for youth and beauty is so pervasive that anorexia is happening in growing numbers in men as well as women.
How then does one age with Grace in a culture that values youth? As opposed to Asian cultures and European cultures where the extended family stays together and the parents and grand parents are revered, American culture is very mobile and many of us move far from our families at a very young age and, perhaps, because of that mobility miss out on many of the lessons that our parents lived through and could share with us. Instead, we find our own grace in our new cities and among our friends and co-w0rkers. We find our sense of value and self worth, often apart from the familial ties. Yet, age is neither good nor bad, it is simply an unalterable part of life. To the extent that we value whatever stage of life we are in, it can prove as fruitful and happy as any other. Beauty, after all, is in the eye of the beholder.
The violin player was at the Farmers Market. He was smiling at a young tike who came up to dance, unembarrased, to the violin serenade.
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