“The minute a man ceases to grow, no matter what his years, that minute he begins to be old.” William James

This past Sunday, Fairview church celebrated 102 years of ministry. Amazingly, the Fairview building is also 102 years old. Obviously, the buildings’ age is apparent, not so with the church. It is the difference in building materials. The church is made of people, the building of stone, wood, and paint … lots and lots of paint.

I have been at Fairview since the fall of 1984. I came to Seattle to attend Seattle Pacific University. In 1984, the Fairview Church was known as the Woodland Park Church. In December of that year, the church purchased and began renovating the Fairview Elementary school building. The church started Fairview Christian School in the fall of 1985. In January 1993, I joined the staff of the church, and in 1996 became the school administrator. I have now lived in Seattle longer than I have ever lived anywhere else, and yet I refer to my hometown as east of the mountains. In two short years, the number of years I have lived as a married person will match the number of years I lived as a single person. Every year, I notice that things are changing about how my body works (or fails to work). I do not bend as I used to, nor do I bounce back as I used too.

Have you ever stopped and thought about the biblical phrase “full of days?” Many of the patriarchs died “full of days.” At a cursory reading one might think this just is another way of saying someone or something is old, but a closer more careful reading conveys a message that a person lived a full life—a life of meaning, and purpose—a life of influence.

Jesus died at 33. Yet he was full of days. Stephen, the first martyr, was likely only in his 20s when Paul and his crew stoned him to death. Yet he was full of days.

Being full of days is not about the length of your life. It is about its depth. It is not about numbers of years. It is about abundance. Its yardstick is not the amount of gray hair on your head. It is about the grace and maturity that resonates from a life mirrored after Christ.

As I age, I want full days. I am more and more committed to living the fullness of life that Jesus promised (John 10:10). I want to laugh with more heartiness and weep with greater compassion. I want to say “I love you” more times in a day than anything else, and “I’m sorry” as quick and as often as it is needed. I want to linger with my friends, forgive my enemies, and reconcile with those I estranged along the way. I want to love God with all I have and all I am. I want to love my neighbor as myself. Whether I die soon or late, I want to leave this world full of days.

Thanks for reading.