An article written by my father, the Rev. C. Thomas Paige, as it appeared in the Tri-State Defender on the date shown.
Have you ever seen an old young man?
There is such a thing, however controversial you may feel my thinking.
A few days ago a young man came to me and engaged me in a conversation. I was washing my car and he just could not understand where I received so much energy. It only took a casual look at him to realize that he was a man who had lived life at its fullest and now at middle age had nothing left. I asked him about his life and, of course, his age. He told me in a few words that he had had a lot of fun and now, at 45 years of age, life owed him nothing. As he looked back over life he could see nothing but pleasant memories. But whereas he looked on life — his life — with a certain amount of joy, I feel that of all things, his life was most tragic.
I could see behind him a mother and father who looked forward with great expectations on this, their son, only to be disillusioned with his choice of friends, activities and the like. No doubt his mother, now living at a ripe old age herself, and his father look back over the years at this son and wonder what could have been. But as I looked at this young man, I saw a man who, for some unknown reason, had thrown away his most productive years.
GREAT AWAKENING
Maybe like the historical prodigal, he now thinks that he has had a great time. But one of these days, he is in for a great awakening. An awakening that will make him mindful of the life that he has lived is nothing more than a shadow of what it could have been.One of these days he will arouse to the fact that after all, life is not a matter of wine, women and song. The long hours, the reckless living, and the indulgence in those things not designed for the human body have all written their marks upon him. Now a young man who should be in the peak of life is through — physically, intellectually and morally. Let me hasten to say that when a man or woman loses the desire to want to be somebody, he is through. As I talked with this young man, I asked him if he ever thought, years ago, that he wanted to be somebody. All he wanted to do was to have a lot of fun and live life to its fullest.
THE TRAGIC THING
But the most tragic thing of the whole affair is that as bad as it may seem, it does not stop with this young man. There are thousands and thousands of people who look back over life and now, with the evening sun approaching, they an see nothing but what could have been. Many people learn late — far too late — that life is a sacred trust. It is going to take living at its best every day to make like what it should be. I am fully mindful of the fact that we all have our moments of temptations, trials and tribulations but only in proportion that we are able to soar above these things will life be worthwhile to ourselves and our fellow man. The bitter pace at which some of our bodies are exposed, the bitter pursuit of eating, drinking, and being merry have done much to make life less effective than it should be. The abuse to which many of our lives are exposed only says to God that we are not grateful for the untold benefits we receive daily. But life would be a futile thing if abuse, greed, hate, selfishness and the like were all that we could see. Against these small things, there have been men who have been willing to pay the price and soar to the top of things. It is through their efforts that we have been able to have a Franklin D. Roosevelt, George W. Carver, Booker T. Washington, Dr. Salk or Dr. Einstein.
Life takes on a new meaning when, somewhere down the line, we are able to see evidence of hope in spite of all the futility and despair we see in much of what goes on around us.
NO EASY WAY
Life is so designed that we are prone to take the roads, avenues, highways or alleys of least resistance. There is something about life that naturally makes us want to find an easy way out. But let me tell you: if you were to go out to any cemetery and stand by the grave of a successful man or woman and listen attentively, you would hear a voice speaking to you, telling you that there is no easy way out.
I realize that many of us have become wrapped up in the idea of getting rich quickly, of living in extreme comfort, of bringing heaven down here right now, but such things are not achieved overnight. Men who have reached the utmost heights have busied themselves with working by the oil of the midnight lamp.
I fully realize that this young man can look back over his life with a certain amount of satisfaction. But in his saner moments, he will be looking for something that just won’t be there.
Many times I see people looking about in life, feeling the darkness, reaching into the uncertainties of life, looking for something that is not there. To me, this is one of the most tragic things in life. Somewhere in life there is something that make a normal man cry out, “Father, I have sinned. I have come short of the mark. I have failed to live up to expectations.”
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VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 