stage of life. Up to now, all my life has been young and innocent. Unfortunately, those days have passed.
It’s hard to get adjusted to old age, because I’ve never experienced it before.
The other day The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage, wife Martha, said to me, “You’re starting to act like some old goat.”
When she said that, something clicked in my brain. I don’t want to act like some old goat, I want to be one.
It got me thinking, as I’ve never thought before. How can I use this “old goat stage?”
I asked her why she thought I was acting like an old goat. She said, “Well, for one, you’re always remembering things according to what you want to remember. You gotta remember the truth.”
As I understand it, as an old goat, I have “selective memory.” I never thought of that before. How can I use “selective memory” to make me a better old goat?
I’ve been working on this for a while, and every time I tell a story from the past, I make sure I’m selecting that memory the way I want. Some stories in my past, nobody knows all of the details.
So, as a professional old goat, I can choose which memories I want to share with people. How do they know if it’s right or wrong?
As we were coming home from a meeting with some of our friends, Martha looked at me and said, “That story you told about when you were in high school was that the same story you told three weeks ago?”
I didn’t even remember the story I told three weeks ago, so I just said to her, “No, that was a different story.”
She just looked at me with one of her smiles, and I realized she didn’t believe me then.
So, along with my “selective memory” skill, I need to develop the next stage: “Once told never repeat.”
I don’t know how I’m going to really work on this, but that’s the next skill to develop as an old goat.
This will be the hardest skill for me to hone, but it’s one I’ll have to develop.
The next time I tell a story with friends around, I’m going to keep my eye on Martha. If I see a certain expression on her face, I’m going to take the story in an altogether different direction.
This is the third skill I need to hone as an old goat. That is, “Watch Martha’s face.”
After 54 years of marriage, I should be able to read that face, and yet I find it really difficult. But, being the professional old goat I’ve become, I’m going to work on it until I have it mastered.
I have a long way to go in developing my old goat skills. I’m going to work at it until I get it as perfect as I can.
I was reminded of David’s prayer in Psalms:
“Now also when I’m old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I’ve shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.”
— Psalm 71: 18
Looking at my life, I must say that this has become my prayer every day.
Dr. Snyder is a former pastor who lives with the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage, wife Martha, in Ocala, Fla. His email is [email protected].
