Something Old – Older Than Dirt

For Lauren and Taylor:

1 John 4: 7-8 “⁷Dear Friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

I did the math; it’s true. After all of these years of hearing it said of others and now approaching the time where it will be (if it hasn’t already been) said of me, “He’s older than dirt”, I have at last found something that actually is older than dirt. Love, and proved by a simple algebraic equation: if A=B and B=C, then A=C. Therefore, if God is love (1 John 4:8 above) and God created the earth or dirt (see John 1:3 below & Genesis 1) then Love is older than dirt.

John 1: 1-5 (New Living Translation) “¹In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He existed in the beginning with God. ³God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. ⁴The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.”

I could easily end this post right there and be vindicated in putting a little something out there that is worthy of a few moments of thought but I want to have a little fun with this and share what drove me to write this.

My family is consumed right now, and rightly so, with the marriage of a young man, Taylor whom I’ve known and enjoyed since he was in third grade Sunday School class and come to respect as a man, to our daughter, Lauren whom I’ve known, loved, enjoyed, come to respect as a woman, along with the whole litany of emotions dads have with their kids since I’ve known she was coming on the scene and that my story had a new character to be written in for the next few chapters.

The other day I was considering what to wear at the wedding in addition to my new gray suit and I thought of getting my Grandpa Matt’s watch out of the box I keep it in and having my own “something old” with me. It is not an expensive watch, nor is it beautiful beyond what it means to me. I’ve been blessed to feel special connections to both my grandfathers and this watch is what I have from Grandpa Matt. I still feel his presence from time-to-time and I’d like to say only whenever significant events like this one are on me but he’s been “around” a few times when I’ve made a bloody fool of myself and I’ve felt his disapproval of my behavior. Oh, that cloud of witnesses can be a tricky thing.

I picked up the self-winding watch with the intent of getting it repaired so that it would be ticking the day of the wedding. I set the time on that early morning and it began ticking immediately. I put it on and wore it to the office and throughout the day and when I took it off that night before bed it had stayed within a minute of the GPS time I had set it to.

I choose to believe that Grandpa Matt is smiling with me now as I wish Taylor and Lauren that thing which is older than dirt, Love. And Love abundantly.