Old Revered?

Apr 22, 2007 by Naomi.

“The ancient one has spoken” quote the man with the speaking stick. And the people around the campfire sat in awe of the wisdom in the words. Such was the attitude of early peoples toward the elders who had lived long and would repeat verbally the history from which they learned and prospered.

Those were the days before words could be written and stored and reread by following generations. Hundreds of thousands of years later there came industrialization, mass reproduction of written words and, lo, the need to pay for the material and services. Money became most desirable — all powerful.

So where is the wisdom today? Is it in our elders? I believe it is. However some segments of society look beyond wisdom. If my incoming mail is any indication, the elders are not asked for wisdom but for their resources. The assumption is that if I am old, I must have resources. And the mail from dozens of organizations insist that I can get a greater return if I invest a few thousand dollars with them. Not just a good investment for myself but critical to the good of the world.

Whew! Does that make me feel important? Of course. And I’m told that some elders do believe those words and invest real dollars to receive many more real dollars in return. Which never happens. They never hear from the company again and holler “Fraud.” Others make their choices to foundations of longstanding organizations that will not return money but promise to continue to do their best for their cause in the future. Good for them.

We shall see if that is the way of the world. Lucky for me my longevity has given me the wisdom that my money will not reap untold riches in my pocket, only continue the integrity of my favorite organization.

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