It is said that by the year 2000 one-half the population of our nation will be over 50 and one-third over 65 years of age. Those of us who are growing older will have plenty of company. We have a science, gerontology, dedicated to our well-being. We do not even have to surrender to senility: doctors tell us that it is not a normal state of old age; only 8 percent of older people need to fear such a breakdown. It is possible to remain alert and creative right down to the conclusion of our lives.

Marie Dressler once said, "It’s not how old you are, but how you are old that counts." I remember hearing Dr. E. Stanley Jones speak just after his seventieth birthday. He said with great assurance, "God has just told me that I have ten more years of fruitful ministry." I said to myself that I woul…