They're All Younger Than Me!

      I don’t remember the day I crossed over the line where most of my advisors were younger than me.

      The line-crossing happened organically in the normal course of life – there wasn’t an announcement. Still, why didn’t I notice?

      I surprised myself this morning while listening to a financial analyst on Morning Edition discuss the possible fallouts from higher tariffs, and the chance the tariffs might not lead to inflation as many of colleagues have suggested, when I noticed how young he sounded. That’s when I started going over my personal list of advisors and mentors.

      Many years ago when I was part of the city government, I remember being in a meeting in Washington DC when we were quizzing our congressman’s staff about government grants and programs we might’ve missed. It occurred to me that while all the young staffers were bright and insightful and friendly and well-informed, I doubted any of them had ever owned a mortgage or paid property taxes. My friend, Kieth, who was sitting beside me, and I decided the US government was being run by fresh college graduates wearing their first suits.

      Maybe that was the day I crossed the line.

      Now, there is no going back. My financial advisor is younger than me (maybe younger than my adult son and daughter), my lawyer is younger than me, both my pastor and my worship leader are younger than me, the podcast hosts I listen to are younger than me, everyone I know in city government, including the mayor and my neighborhood councilman, are younger than me, and most of my favorite authors are younger than me.

      The only reason I can’t say my Adult Bible Study teacher is younger that me is because I’m the teacher and I’m younger than two-thirds of the class. I’ll leave it for them to say they’ve crossed the line.

      I once overheard Cyndi ask someone who was trying to give business advice with a cold call, "What’s your favorite Doobie Brother’s song?” She was trying to get a handle on the caller’s life experience before she spent time listening to his pitch.

      Don’t misunderstand my point. I believe I’m in good hands. I trust the advice I get from all of these youngsters even when I might disagree with it. But the awareness of aging comes in bits and pieces, and this bit hit me this morning just after my morning walk and before my shower. At my age, that’s when the best ideas usually arrive.

“I run in the path of Your commands, for You have set my heart free.” Psalm 119:32