A Hundred Years

o age like fine wine is a proverb often said. This is quoted to compliment men or women whose dark hairs are displaced by strands looking like salt and pepper; but a demeanor of grace and wisdom remains in the midst of the gravitating pull of time. Or the call of angels?  And even an appointment with grave?  

Wait, but what is fine wine? Experts are able to distinguish Pinot Noir from Bourdeaux. Or Chardonnay from Chablis. Or any of those previously mentioned than a bottle of common table wine. They sniff the bouquet, swirl the fresh extract on the palate of their tongue and assess the viscosity sliding on the wine glass with eyes trained under a watchful sommelier. The unique observation is not every Juan’s worldly competence. While some gulp straight up unmindful of distinctions, the difference between Pinot Noir and Bourdeaux bottled wines ranges from P12,000 to 180,000.  

To age like fine wine mirrors of the phenomenal quality the natural process of fermentation brings to the grape extracts to every prized bottle. The transformation from raw to extraordinary is instantaneous. Time plays an important. Timing is critical. Cooperation with natural elements is necessary. Processes are regulated and monitored to insure quality. No yuppie in the corporate world is accorded with the compliment he has aged like fine wine. Bright? Yes. Aging with grace or transforming like fine wine is the waterloo of the youth.

My 30 year old daughter had a discussion among her peers - who wants to be a hundred years old? The consensus was in the negative. Not one wanted to grow old? Growing older meant being sickly. Also, it seems common knowledge that disease attends the elderly. Will their retirement package and benefits hold their health up against the rising costs of doctors’ fee and medicine year after year? To see a hundred sunsets from the La Union shoreline and to tell grand stories during weekends to the Danny Go and Coco Melon generation, what would be the maintenance cost of this life? 

If one ages like the perfect Pinot Noir or Bourdeaux in a dark bottle and stored in the cellar, it is recommended by the sommelier. It is also highly sought by connoisseurs. Every drop in the palate and the bouquet which engages the sensory is worth the cost of being part of the course served at the table. Aging into the fulness is a luxury exceedingly greater than brandishing a Birkin or Hermes leather bag. Or acquiring costly stem cell therapy. Eternal life is priced out of the digits of worldly currency.

For many not in the pursuit of coveting status symbols, seeking to grow into the richness of life should not be burdensome or even, a burden to another. I told my daughter, “Moses was 120. His eyes did not dim. His vitality did not decrease.” The Lordwilling, with lifestyle changes, I, with a prayer, will stay to be with my grandchildren until Yeshua comes thru the clouds. If like fine wine, we are aging, it is written of us, we are “wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine (Psalm 104).”