We have likely been told at some point in our lives to “act our age.” I think a better direction would be to “act our spirit.” Age is a number and can be a limiting factor (real or imagined). Our age may prevent us from attempting something new or even starting over. We can use age as an excuse. However, our spirit is more adventurous, more flexible, more authentic. If something is right or aligns with our being, no matter our age, let’s go for it. Acting our age helps us “fit in” while acting our spirit can make us “stand out.”
“Act your age” is an expression that refers to how people should act based on societal norms for the age. “Act our spirit” is an expression that refers to the ability to bring one’s passions, values, and motivations into their lives. At age 62, I walked 50+ miles during the peak of summer heat, an act driven by my spirit and not my age.
Acting our age can make us too self-aware and conscious. It can impose boundaries and limit our outlook based on expectations and not experiences. Age should never be an excuse or a barrier. It should not define our worth or relevance. As a benchmark, it is at the very least, imprecise and subjective. As the saying goes, it is just a number; a number we tell others and has nothing to do with who we actually are.
Our essence or lifeforce plays a significant role in generating energy and creativity where attitude is more important than age. I read where 42% of the runners who finish the New York Marathon each year are over the age of 40 and typically more than 50 of these runners are over 70. The average age of men and women when receiving the Nobel Prize is 71 for chemistry, 67 for economics, 68 for physics, and 68 for physiology or medicine.
Age is an account of time; spirit is an account of mind, will, and imagination. Quantifying time is irrelevant. Whereas one is hard pressed to quantify spirit in temporal terms. Acting our spirit is living our wisdom. After spending the first two acts of our lives growing older, we should rely on our wisdom for the third and final act to navigate, understand, and make decisions to continue the journey of our vocation in life.
“Growing old is a given but keeping the spirit of youth is a choice.” – John Izzo
Some of what it means to “act our age” or “be mature” has been conditioned by culture. Consider the agrarian society where children grow up quickly due to their responsibilities. They were considered adults because they took on adult activities. As society evolved, children had the privilege of extending childhood while they attended school, then college. Today, some adults remain children almost indefinitely.
St. Augustine, who as a rebellious and hedonistic young adult was likely often told to act his age, asked himself, “Am I learning in order to grow, or learning in order to know who and how to love?” His question balanced the forming his character around intellect and achievement against forming his spirit around love and worship.
In St. Paul’s first letter to Timothy, he exhorts him: “Let no one have contempt for your youth, but set an example for those who believe, in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity.” (1 Timothy 4:12). Paul encouraged Timothy to teach with confidence, relying on his spirit – not his age – as well as the gifts and the mission that God bestowed on him.
The Pharisees were acting their title and position (and maybe age) but not their spirit. As a result, Jesus reserved some of his harshest criticism for them. They were missing the spirit that came with love of God and love of neighbor.
The author of Hebrews expressed concern for the congregation of Jewish Christians. They had been making good progress and growing steadily in their faith but were now in decline. As time and age was moving forward, a weariness with the demands of Christian life and a growing indifference had set in. There was a lack of spiritual maturity and conduct of their lives from a spirit filled core.
This theme of lacking in spiritual maturity appears in several of Paul’s letters as well as Peter’s. The Christian Faith was evolving from infancy to adulthood. As it was progressing in years (age) it needed to grow in the hearts of believers. In his letters, Paul outlines the best way to act our spirit is to pray. Prayer is something that the Spirit, who is in us, does through us. If we enter an intimate conversation with the One who loves us, the Spirit will intercede and lead us.
The Church is full of Saints and role models that acted their spirit beyond their age. Saint Joan of Arc was only 19 when as a peasant girl, received visions of St. Michael the Archangel, St. Margaret, and St. Catherine of Alexandria to rise up and help the French defeat the English in the Hundred Years’ War. The Blessed Chiara Badano, passed away in 1990 at the age of 18. She maintained her joyful demeanor despite the pains of a rare form of bone cancer, refusing morphine to stay lucid and offer up her sufferings for Jesus Christ. Also, the Blessed Carlo Acutis who was only 15 when he died in 2006 of leukemia and was so devoted to the Eucharist, he spent his final years building a website to document all of the Eucharistic miracles.
No matter our age, we are responsible, before God, to act our spirit. Acting our heart, mind, and spirit leads to having peace through God. We need to let the peace of God rule in our hearts. Age has no imposed temporal boundaries when our life is lived on purpose and according to our spirit.