Aliens and our Elders

 Little green men with wrinkling skin?  Nope!  Wisdom, yet again, found in Leviticus.  I must admit that some of the “various laws” listed in Leviticus made me think deeply about how we live in the USA today.  I’m not saying that these laws should be the laws of the United States, but I think their is some deep wisdom here that we are missing.  From Leviticus 19:32-33 -

32 ” ‘Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD.

33 ” ‘When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. 34 The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

These are laws written for the Israelites as God prepared them for the land of Canaan.  God knew they would be tested in many ways, and these were just two of the laws that He placed on their consciences.  I think they are greatly relevant to us today.  Sadly, I feel that many times we do the exact opposite in many cases.

 How often have you or someone you know been irritated at an older person?  Were they too slow?  Not quick enough to understand?  Did their ideas seem “different” or “not the easy way”?  Here is a good test to ask yourself to see how well you SHOULD treat your elders. 

1. Image you could go back in time and talk to yourself when you were X years old….for me that would be like 10.

2. How would you feel if ‘the young you’ ignored ‘the older you’, and thought you were some old fart and didn’t “have a clue”?  Looked at you like you were an idiot, dismissed your words and went on their merry way?

3. How do you hope ‘the young you’ would react?  Whatever that may be, THAT is how you should treat those that are older than you!  Of course, if you are insane or delusional your answer may not be the best course of action.  Okay, back to it.

We may not always stand in the presence of our elders, but we can surely RESPECT, HELP and most importantly LEARN from them!  If you are dismissing this email, then you really need to grow up and mature a bit.  Think about it.  How “inexperienced” does a person have to be in order to listen to them?  30?  25?  21?  I’m 36 and know way more that those “babies”.  If you don’t believe it, wait till you are 36 and laugh at the “young you”.  I regard my younger self as an immature idiot till around 25, then I became a mature idiot.  Now I’m a wiser idiot.  :)

Now as for the second verse regarding aliens or foreigners.  I simply think this is so wise.  You have to recall that the Israelites were themselves once aliens.  They knew firsthand how they would have liked to be treated when they were in a foreign land.  I live in Indiana where we have had a large influx of Hispanics.  I speak some Spanish and have gone on some mission trips to Mexico and Cuba, so I have a respect for the Hispanic population that many may not have.  If laws have been broken, I do not condone that, but in the end, I feel I must be cordial and nice to everyone I meet.  Heck, it’s fun to learn about another culture!

One last thought, the Bible makes it clear that we are all aliens to this world (1 Peter 2:11).  We have been given life, free-will, and opportunity.  Although we live in a cursed world due to sin, we have been treated very well in that the air is breathable, the soil can produce food and we have resources beyond measure.  Who are we to deny respect to those that are new to our land, or those that are older than we are?

My son hears me say this to him all the time, but in this case, I feel we all need to hear it when it comes to these topics. 

Stop, think and make a good choice.