White Is Covering The Treasures Beneath

Lake effect snow from Lake Ontario blankets our lawns, our roads, our cars. It's Western New York in February! What else can you expect? Last week's snow was wet, sticky and wind blown. For a short time it adorned a neighborhood barn, highlighting its old boards, until the sun came out.

Old barns like this make you wonder. What's inside? What treasures?

We pass old barns and sheds in the summertime when tangled brush and scrub trees nearly obliterate them from our sight. In that season, we hardly notice the ancient relics. We're too busy with modern activity to slow down and observe the old things. As the farmers in our rural area say- We're making hay while the sun shines. No time to stop and wonder what's inside old barns.

It's the same with people. There comes a time when older people are crowned with gray or white hair (or no hair). Their activities and movements don't attract much attention. Especially from young people who are in the summer of life. They find it hard to imagine that white haired people were ever as young and vibrant as themselves. They find it hard to fathom that white haired people once groped for meaning to life, for love, and for excitement. They find it hard to understand that white haired people sinned (and still sin) just as they do.

What's inside the white crowned people in our midst? Treasures. A library. Volumes of stories and lessons learned in the school of hard knocks. Perhaps that's why God gave us instructions to rise in the presence of the aged. "You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God." (Leviticus 19:32) Long ago, when people rose as an old person hobbled into a gathering, there was recognition for the value of a life lived long and a life lived well. Society, as a whole, no longer does that. It's a shame. It's missing out on its treasure.

Thankfully, however, there are many wonderful young people who do value the treasures among them. They stop their text messaging, take their MP3 players out of their ears, and they sit down face to face and talk to older people. Sometimes they lend their arms to the older person to help them get around. Sometimes they go up to person, blinded by macular degeneration, cheerfully greet them and ask for the old stories.

These young people have stopped along the way in the summer of their lives and have asked to see the treasures inside the white crowned building. God bless them!