Jake’s grandpa rested on his soon-to-be death bed as he told his 16 year old grandson stories of mistakes he had made during his prime years. “Don’t make the same mistakes as me Jake. Learn from my mistakes and strive to do better and have more purpose in life than I had.” Jake listened intently as his grandfather’s voice grew weaker and weaker. With tears in his eyes, Jake’s grandfather gave his final lesson to Jake. “Carpe diem.” Youth can benefit from working with the elderly to “rage against the dying of the light” by learning from life experiences that the elderly have to share, and by helping the elderly do things that they aren’t able to do by themselves. By doing these things the youth can be given guidance and direction, and also be filled with charity as they learn to love helping the elderly “fight against the dying of the light”.
“Back when I was a boy…”, Grandpa began. “Not again Grandpa!”, complained Billy,”you’re always telling us what it was like when you were a kid! We just want to play!” Billy and his fellow cousins mumbled amongst themselves. “My stories might help you one day in life…”, replied Grandpa. Most everyone has listened to stories like this from grandparents about what it was like when they were children, places they’ve traveled, and most importantly mistakes they’ve made. While many of today’s youth take this special privilege for granted, many great life lessons that would benefit the youth when they came upon similar situations. Youth, through shared mistakes in life made by elderly people, can learn which choices are right. To further illustrate, in Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury an elderly woman named Helen Loomis shares experiences of places she has travelled with a young gentlemen. While Helen did not share a mistake, the stories she shares with Bill Forester benefit him because he gets to have experiences that he would never have been able to experience for himself. Youth can have similar benefits to Bill Forester by working with elderly to fight against death.
In addition to being able to make educated decisions, youth can also benefit from working together with the elderly by assisting them. In Mosiah 2:17 of The Book of Mormon, King Benjamin addresses his subjects in the land of Zarahemla saying, “And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.” Youth have many opportunities to help the elderly and if they were to choose to help they would inherently be serving God. What greater benefit is there than serving God? The answer is none. By helping the elderly the youth would take some of life’s burdens of the backs of these elderly people which could, in time, add months or even years to their life. Whether it be a simple act of kindness, such as helping the elderly person cross the street or giving them a loving hand to hold through hard times, serving them benefits the youth by giving them an opportunity to serve God and to learn the importance of being selfless.
Jake took Grandpa’s words and stories to heart. From now on he would make better choices. From now on he would strive to live life to the fullest potential. He would make live worth living. Just like Jake benefitted from Grandpa’s inspiring stories, youth can also benefit from working with the elderly to “rage against the dying of the light” by learning from elderly people’s experiences and by being selfless in giving service to them.
February 10, 2015