With oldish age (can’t say “old age”- I’m a 70’s rocker, not a recliner potato) should come wisdom, contentment, and an appreciation for a life well-lived. Sure, regrets linger in the recesses of clouded memories and arthritic joints, but all things considered, when you creep closer and closer to 70 years of “roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it” (Job 1:7) your vision of and on life ought to be fairly clear (cataracts excepted).
I chose the name for my blog on purpose. This is what I am- an old fart missionary. All three words can be repulsive, nay, even offensive to some. Old– it is all relative, my dear. My 94 year old now-departed-from-this-world mother told me that she did not like to spend time around “old” people because “they only want to talk about their health or their money.” Old is not frail. Old is not ugly. Old is not outdated. Old does not smell funny (more on that later). It simply is. Not to be shunned, avoided, or denied its moment in the sun (but with sunscreen- accursed potential skin cancer after decades in Africa and Orange County beaches!). Getting older is something to embrace, accept, adapt to, shine in, and even cherish. I know it is hard to rage against the man when YOU are the man, but carpe diem, bro!
Fart– Hey, follow this link for the definition: https://rb.gy/hecmq. Wow, maybe I should change the name of my blog. Look at my choices:
- emit gas from the anus.
- 2.waste time on silly or trivial things.
noun
noun: fart; plural noun: farts
- 1.an emission of gas from the anus.
- 2.a boring or contemptible person. “he was such an old fart“
Ouch. Boring and contemptible? Silly or trivial? Not me! You see, it hurts less and makes you look like you are seriously self-aware if you get ahead of the game and declare yourself to be what many others think you are. When I share the name of my blog with others it has elicited a smile, a chuckle, and a little rolling of the eyes. Conclusion- for now, I am keeping it. Besides, I had to pay for the domain name! And, according to research EVERYONE does this- fart, that is. Some are just better at hiding it is all.
Missionary- Conjures up images of pith helmets, belly bands, and Bible-toting cultural imperialists bent on imposing Western ways on unsuspecting and innocent locals. Truth be told, I never wore a pith helmet or a belly band, I tote my Bible on my phone, and I have yet to find (in almost 4 decades and on the same number of continents) “locals” who are either unsuspecting OR innocent. More on that later…
So the name was changed to protect the guilty to strategic partner, global worker, or cross-cultural communications specialist (I put that on my LinkedIn account). I, too, want to be with it, contemporary, and perceived as cool, but oldfartcrossculturalcommunicationsspecialist does not roll off the tongue as well as Old.Fart.Missionary. Nor does it elicit a smile, a chuckle, or a rolling of the eyes. So, should you be offended, kindly recalibrate your offense-o-meter and dial it back to the “Take Thyself Less Seriously” setting.
So welcome to my blog. My goal is to make you laugh, think, decide for yourself, get up and do something about the injustice in the world, or even get angry and write horrible things to me or about me.
This blog also gives me airtime to “not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” to quote Dylan Thomas.
(And on the 8th day God created Google so I could look up this kind of minutiae and appear to be a cultured, intelligent, and a well-read individual.)
Godspeed.
Shawbones