7 September 2025

I was at the hospital for a routine check-up. There was no-one in the waiting room. A man of African descent appeared and sat down nearby. Turning towards me, he said apropos of nothing, ‘How old are you?’ I was surprised, to say the least.

I told him. He made no comment. I reciprocated, ‘How old are you?’ He was forty-five, a soldier based with   the army  at Leuchars along with his wife and children. He looked  middle-aged. The conversation continued until I was called first.

I am not sure why he was so interested in my age. Was it an opener to conversation? I could imagine that some people would not be very happy with that opening gambit. Traditionally, women do not like to reveal their age.  Or did he think I was possibly in my nineties looking like someone in their seventies?

It made me think about my age and aging. ‘You’re only as young  as you feel.’ is the old adage. I don’t feel a particular age.  However, my perception of myself as a student persisted into my thirties. This is the only time I remember feeling my age and it wasn’t mine!

What I do know is that inside I feel just as I always did. My perception of myself is not age-bound but ageless. It is who I am which makes its mark upon me. Having said that, it is wise to be aware of how other people perceive you. Some older people can be very foolish when they act like someone much  younger.

For me, age does not matter for as a Christian, I have been given eternal life which not only characterises my life today but also enables me to live in eternity. In eternity, age is as insignificant as seventy and any other finite number  is to infinity. But having a sense of living in this infinite sphere is both liberating and joyful.