Once upon a time, centuries ago, a Rabbi was spending time with a Master Rabbinic Scholar seeking the inner meanings of the Torah.
One day, after a long session, the Rabbi left on his chariot in a state of reverie, returning to his home whence along the side of the road he sees an old man, ugly looking to his sight and bent over with a cane. The old, ugly man reached out from the side of the road to greet the Rabbi. The Rabbi’s visceral reaction was to recoil at the sight of this man. “Depart from me, you scoundrel! Your very sight is disturbing to my spirit.” The old, ugly man retorted, “Take it up with the craftsman if my sight so disturbs you.”
Upon hearing this rejoinder, the Rabbi realized his sin, dismounted from his carriage, and bowed down contritely at the old man’s feet and pleaded for his forgiveness.
This Talmudic story could have ended right there, but there’s more to the tale.
The ugly man refused to accept the penitence from the esteemed Rabbi. Instead, he said, “I will not forgive you until you go to the craftsman who made me and say ‘how ugly is this vessel that you made?’” With that, the old, ugly, man slowly began to walk back to his town.
Confused, the Rabbi got back in his chariot and followed him. When the old man reached his hometown, the people welcomed him and also greeted the Rabbi. The old man proceeded to inform the townspeople of what had transpired and they loudly chastised the Rabbi. The Rabbi, now truly humiliated, pleaded to the whole town to forgive his arrogance and begged for their forgiveness.
Upon that, the ugly, old man returned to the Rabbi and said he now accepted his apology. The story concludes with the Rabbi returning to his Master’s quarters to continue to study the Torah, perhaps in a more open way.
Age-ing is a natural occurrence, part of the cosmic order. It has its own intrinsic beauty. However, if one cannot surrender to its sublimeness, especially in a society that largely views age-ing through a deficit lens, then people go to extraordinary lengths to deny it. Hence, the growing anti-aging industry whose purpose is to exploit profit and make you look younger.
In this Talmudic story, the old man instructs the young man to take his abhorrent perception of aging up with the craftsman in whose image he was created.
That is quite the anti-ageist retort from a man who transcended self-loathing and denial to teach a young Rabbi full of spiritual pride a lesson he will never forget.
Love this story, especially since it points out that even the
Rabbi can make mistakes to learn from. We are Blessed to
Grow Old, since many others have been denied the chance.
I, too, am facing changes required by the ageing process.
Each day, I get up and look around, wondering, ‘OK, Where
do I have to adapt today?’ It seems to take the sting out of
time’s passing, and is starting to become a comfortable habit.
A “comfortable habit” is a rather pleasant description of part of the process! Shockingly painful describes the ever more constant awareness of the previous generation’s know-it-all attitude; a ‘tude approaching contempt…an audacious assumption that they know where you are (incorrectly) coming from and the nerve to correct you! Other than that, I love my ageing and am amazed by my healthy mind and body and spirit of adventure.