Did you know that Moses was a middle-aged 40 when he awoke to the oppression of his Hebrew kinsfolk in Egypt? Or that he was 80 when he heard a voice from a burning bush calling him to bring God's people out of Egypt? I've read the Bible since I was a child, and I even went to divinity school, but until recently I never paid attention to Moses' age. I just assumed he was a young man when he made these big life decisions, since that's the typical story.
Yet I am reminded that other narratives run counter to this general one. In the Bible, in literature and in film there are lots of stories about change coming late in life and growth happening all along the way. Our own lives testify to the power of continuing education.
Many of the stories we tell at Signal Hill are about this theme of lifelong learning. Take for instance the story of Janis Young. The 85-year-old resident of Piedmont Gardens in Oakland, Calif., recently learned to play the ukulele. “I can play three chords, which is all you need to play a lot of songs," she says. "I enjoy it. It’s a good way to keep your mind going.”
