The View At 52

As the years go by, birthdays feel different.

When I was younger, birthdays were all about looking forward. I wondered when I could stay up late, drive, graduate, or live on my own. There was always another milestone ahead, and each year brought me closer.

This week, I turn 52.

Which means I have now lived in two different centuries. I’m not sure when that started sounding less impressive and more ancient.

At 52, I see a lot more of my journey behind me than I used to.

Now, birthdays make me reflect on the past as much as the future. I think about where I’ve been, the adventures I’ve had, the people who shaped me, the things I’d happily repeat, and a few I’d do differently if I could.

But I am still looking ahead.

This birthday week makes that especially tangible. I get to spend some time in Arkansas with my dad and also watch Justice run another cross-country meet during his senior year.

It’s a special feeling to stand there as both a son and a father. I see my dad and remember being a kid. Then I watch my son, ready to start his own life, and realize how fast the years have gone by.

I think this view is a gift that comes with growing older. We begin to realize that looking back and pressing on are not opposites. 

Paul writes in Philippians, “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal.”

I don’t think Paul is saying our past doesn’t matter. Just a few verses earlier, he remembers his own story. He knows where he’s come from and what has shaped him.

Pressing on isn’t about forgetting our story. Maybe it is about refusing to believe that our story is finished.

I have memories I treasure, losses I still feel, and mistakes I’ve learned from. People have shaped who I am, and I carry all of that with me.

But there’s still a road ahead. There are people to love, things to learn, grace to receive, adventures to have, questions to ask, ways to serve, and parts of me that God is still shaping.

So the view at 52: I am grateful for the road behind me. I look ahead, not knowing where it will lead, but trusting that, by God’s grace, there’s still more of the journey ahead.

So I’m pressing on.

I hope you’ll join us this Sunday as we continue our Pressing On series and celebrate World Communion Sunday together.

With Gratitude,

Rev. Rodney Whitfield
Senior Pastor
Aldersgate UMC