Only a couple years out of college, I told my coworkers that I looked forward to being old. They weren’t just dismissive of that comment. They were indignant. On one level, I know why. I understood little to nothing at age 23 about the hardships of aging and caring for the dying. I hadn’t yet suffered many of life’s inevitable pains.
At the same time, I looked forward to greater wisdom, maybe even the defeat of some sins and temptations. I was excited about all I could learn if the Lord granted me years. Maybe I even had a couple Bible verses in my head, like Proverbs 16:31: “Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.” Or Job 12:12: “Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days.”
Both those verses are cited by Jen Wilkin in her excellent new book, Dust to Dust: Aging Wisely in an Anti-Aging World (Crossway). If you take my youthful naivete at its best, I was recognizing what Jen distinguishes in her book: The world says to age is to diminish. But the Bible says to age is to deepen. Now in middle age, however, I experience the good and bad: The invisibility because no one would possibly notice my appearance. But also the freedom because I have that middle-aged dad’s superpower of not caring what other people think of my appearance.
I didn’t realize how much I needed Jen’s book, and I was eager to ask a whole bunch of questions on Gospelbound.
In This Episode
00:00 – Jen Wilkin reflects on her mother’s death and the symmetry of life
00:49 – Why Collin has long looked forward to old age
01:20 – Introducing Dust to Dust and the contrast between cultural decline and biblical deepening
02:31 – Why modern culture values youth over old age
03:55 – Jen’s first moments of realizing she was aging
05:46 – How aging feels different for men and women
07:49 – Why many people fear becoming a burden
10:08 – Assisted suicide, dependency, and surprising cultural opposition
14:47 – The “chiasm of life” and how beginning and end mirror each other
21:02 – Why midlife offers a unique vantage point for perspective and wisdom
24:50 – Caring simultaneously for children and aging parents
29:12 – Why caregiving isn’t a season but a default setting of life
32:10 – How modern longevity has changed the experience of family and aging
36:25 – “You will not surely die”: the anti-gospel of age denial
37:52 – How suffering narrows our priorities
40:34 – Honoring parents and the fuller meaning of the fifth commandment
45:44 – Retirement, crystallized knowledge, and later-life vocation
50:46 – A theology of aging before a debate about anti-aging practices
55:33 – Jen’s regrets, sanctification, and learning to honor parents well
1:00:26 – Final reflections on aging, family, and hope
1:01:07 – Outro
Resources Mentioned:
- Dust to Dust by Jen Wilkin
- From Strength to Strength by Arthur C. Brooks
-
The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis
SIGN UP for my newsletter, Unseen Things.
Help The Gospel Coalition renew and unify the contemporary church in the ancient gospel: Donate today.
Don’t miss an episode of Gospelbound with Collin Hansen:
