Youth and Elders

Deep down we all know that children are a gift. In every newborn child we can see the dawn of a better world. Within each of us, that child with all its promise is always present.

Old people, too, are a gift, one which our society too often fails to appreciate. They offer us the wisdom of a whole lifetime’s experience. They represent the roots of our past and all the brave suffering that has gone into making us what we are.

When we think about youth and elders, we’re reflecting on our own lifetime and how it is all interconnected. In the child, there is the seed of what we become, and in the oldest of us, there is still the child full of possibilities. As Rumi said, “no one will know my true name until my last breath goes out.” No one – not even we ourselves -- will know who we really are until our life is completed. And yet it will be complete in every moment if we live it gratefully.