Sages as an Anchor on the Mountainside
The following blog is by Carlton L Coon, Sr.
Anchors Empowered will be the theme of my articles in the bi-monthly Director’s Communique. Each article will be practical and include a call to realistic action.
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Anchor has multiple definitions. In some way, each definition fits those of the Sage age. An anchor:
Finishes a relay race.
Is used to secure a vessel against the wind and waves.
Is figuratively a mainstay.
Reads the news.
In mountaineering, an anchor is a fixed object, be it a tree or pinion, to which a climber secures his rope.
The Dependable Pinion
In two epistles, Simon Peter wrote to those scattered abroad. He was no longer young. For the most part, Peter’s readers were younger people who were being persecuted.
At this age, Peter had experienced difficult times. Any person 55 and over has. Nobody gets out of life unscathed. Peter’s message of encouragement included the phrase,
“. . . kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
It is an affirmation of who they were, and who He is – the one who kept them by his power.
Simon Peter’s name and experiences were not unknown to his readers. How much did it mean to have this veteran speak confidently of faith to them?
Peter was like a pinion driven into a crease in a rock. Such an anchor allows a mountain climber to climb higher securely. Aided by the pinion, the climber will go higher than the pinion that anchored him.
Few Sage agers are climbing physical mountains. Even in my younger days, that did not get my attention. My friend, Art Hodges, climbed Yosemite’s, Half Dome. Kudos to Art, but not me.
Anchors for Those Below
Imagine it. You are at a height on the mountain. Life experience, mistakes, disappointments, grief, troubles, trials—have you where no forty-year-old is at.
The arriving generations, your children, grandchildren, and their peers, are further down the mountain. Your experience and insight gained can be an anchor to them.
Secure
Must those who come after us trust in unproven anchors? Define yourself: Can the words solid, stable, dependable, or trustworthy be applied to you?
No mountain climber would trust a pinion made of cheap metal. Those who follow us are only interested in insight from dependable people.
Climb Beyond Me
In the Bible, elders are portrayed as sources of wisdom. Wisdom comes from experience. It is the ability to know what to do next. At your age, you are part of God’s plan to help the church in 2040 climb higher than any your generation attained.
Moses led Israel out of Egypt, preparing Joshua to lead into Canaan.
Think about Elijah’s miracles and Elisha’s ambition for a double portion.
David gathered resources for a temple so Solomon could build the temple.
Please make it possible for those coming behind you to access what God has given you: insights, practical approaches to getting things done, and a vision of the future. Find those who want help—many do—and become an anchor, allowing them to climb higher.
When You Are the One Anchored
Those pinions driven into creases in the rock are not large. For some, a pinion could be nothing but waste metal to be tossed aside. But those on the face of the mountain have a great appreciation for that odd-shaped piece of metal. It provides security.
Sue McClancy was a soft-spoken southern belle. For decades, she quietly served God as best she could despite her husband hating everything about the church. He often threatened to kill her if she attended church. Sue was in her late 70s when her husband died on Monday. That Wednesday, for the first time, she walked into the church.
Over the next decade, a member of our family drove her to church from the Assisted Living facility where she chose to be home. Sue had poor vision; rather than risk falling, she would remain seated during altar services.
As months passed, we realized the treasure God had sent. Due to her limited vision, when church ended, she sat alone, waiting to be driven home. She sat alone for a few weeks. When younger people – from teens to fifty-year-olds realized Sue McClancy’s solid strength there was seldom a time that someone was not beside her talking about life.
To a visitor or guest preacher, Sue was overlooked. She was an elderly lady who moved slowly and talked softly, and they might imagine her to be of little value.
But Sue was a pinion in the rock for those who sat and talked with her. The unknowing might toss a pinion aside as a waste metal, but the one planning to ascend the heights knows better.
If God was with Sue McClancy when her husband threatened murder; keeping a loaded shotgun by the bed intending to kill her - then He will surely be with me. Despite the adversity in her life, Sue was sweet and gentle. But none would ever see her as weak. She was an anchor for many – including me.
On a difficult Sunday evening, when I sat on the altar of Truth Tab and shared with the church my struggle with Major Depressive Disorder, prayer was made on my behalf. I stood near the door as Sis. McClancy walked by; she quietly said, “Pastor, don’t disappoint me. God has got this. He will get you through.” And He has.
Sue McClancy, by then, 80+, an anchor securing me to climb higher.
Listen Up, Sage Agers
You may feel overlooked and undervalued, and some are. Your pastor, your grandson’s age, has no idea that fifty years ago, you were the Youth Leader or taught Sunday School for twenty-two years. Those your grandkids' age don’t know that you faithfully played the piano or bass guitar for decades.
Your accomplishments and faithfulness seem to have been written in sand – now they are all gone. Seldom is your full story told. My suggestion is to get past it. Let it go.
You’ll not be asked to lead youth service, teach the Junior Class, or play your favorite musical instrument.
Be an anchor to those who climb the mountain behind you.
Those coming behind have ambition. The young preacher in his twenties who was with us on Christmas morning loves to preach. He and his wife have the right stuff to climb above any height I’ve attained. To get there, they will need some anchors. Norma and I can be two of them.
And you? Will you be the pinion in the rock for them? Someone they can hook to. Someone dependable?
When all is well with footholds aplenty, the mountain climber does not need an anchor. But when the going gets tough and the mountain steep the climber needs something to help keep him secure.
When things are going right, don’t anticipate the arriving generation coming by to tell you how wonderful things are - few will. Oh, but they will be alongside when they are struggling – be an anchor.
Call to Action:
Write a brief paragraph about the ministry of the anchor, the pinion on the mountainside, as it applies to you.
Can you listen without judgment or accusation when these “kids” (some in their 40s and 50s) share their struggles? Be sure to totally keep their confidences to yourself. If you cannot do so, few will seek you for help.
Over the next two weeks, step outside your comfort zone and prayerfully minister to someone who you sense is going through a difficult time. Email me at SagesDirector@upci.org and tell me how it went and how it made you feel.