Rev. Dr. Devin Strong

Spirit of Peace Lutheran Church

Later this month I will turn 60. For me this is a big, round number, but we have a woman in our congregation who is 96 years young. To her I am just a kid. We also have many little ones in the congregation to whom I surely look like a grandpa. (For the record, I have no grandchildren, just grand-cats and a grand-possum, but that’s a story for another time!) I do not feel especially old. I still have plenty of energy and fire in the belly, though I do admit to enjoying a late-afternoon nap more than I used to!

My age creeps up on me when I think about all that I have seen in my life. I took my first steps in the shadow of the Vietnam War, and I remember my dad talking about his university students pleading for higher grades for fear that they would be drafted.

I remember Watergate, gas lines, and the energy crisis.

I remember U.S. hostages in Iran and the first attack on the World Trade Center as well as the Oklahoma City bombing. Hurricane Katrina, and 9/11--both left indelible marks on me along with Columbine and Sandy Hook and too many other school shootings.

I remember when America elected its first black president and when two qualified women, whatever you may think of them, fell short of their bids for the White House.

I have seen technology go from manual typewriters to ChatGPT and Alexa-enabled smart homes. I remember that irritating “handshake” sound that phone lines used to make when we dialed into the Internet, and I am much older than Google!

I never thought I would carry more technology in my pocket than was on the first space rockets.

Socially, I saw my denomination ordain its first woman, laws to protect people with disabilities, and wide acceptance of gay, lesbian, and transgender people, faster than I ever dreamed possible.

We have more information at our fingertips than ever before, but we are also less trusting of institutions of all sorts, and we do always believe the same truths. We communicate with each other constantly, but sometimes it is just by emoji.

I don’t know how much wisdom I have gained in my advanced age, but I do have greater focus. I am less interested now in accumulating stuff than I used to be. Serving a big church with a calendar packed with programs no longer excites me as much as making meaningful connections with the people right in front of me. Each month I do a video chat with a pastor colleague and another with my best friend from college. These, along with a weekly dinner with my church family, are some of the best parts of my month! As do not matter, and time is going faster than we think!I hit a milestone birthday and we all wade into a new year, I invite you to think about what matters most in your life and how you can do more of that because life is too short to spend a lot of time doing things that