Thursday, March 28, 2024

Arthur not too old

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I READ where certain BLPites (Arthur’s detractors) have been saying that he is over the hill and at 60 is too old for the office of Prime Minister.

To say that Arthur is too old for the office is one of the most asinine statements in the history of humankind.

Arthur is better equipped, more knowledgeable and better prepared now than when he was Prime Minister.

He is now ready for service. Competence and not age is what counts. Age has nothing to do with one’s capabilities.

Age is only a number. The British people, moreover, the world, called Sir Winston Churchill at age 65 to face the young and tyrannical Herr Hitler.

General MacArthur wrote: People grow old only by deserting their ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up interest wrinkles the soul.

You are as young as your faith, as old as  your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair;… when… your heart is covered with the snow of pessimism… then, and then only are you grown old… Henry Ford ran a thriving manufacturing automobile company well into his eighties.

George Bernard Shaw continued to startle the world and write plays right into his nineties.

Norman Vincent Peale, the apostle of Positive Thinking, was still preaching, holding people spell-bound, well into his 80s.

Arthur Rubinstein, noted pianist, was still packing auditoriums well into his 90s.

And I can go on and on. I, at 84, with prostate cancer since 1998; diagnosed with cancer of the liver in 2007; cancer tumours removed from my bowels in January 2008, just made it as gangrene had set in.

Gall bladder shut down in November 2009, had a catheter installed and was told would have to wear it for the balance of my life, it was just removed as the gall-bladder started to function again; am still up and around with a positive mind focused on Jesus Christ, no time for dwelling on my medical problems, and ready to enter into battle with any man.

I have never been more competent than I am now.

Once I have an active mind, I shall never be old. I intend to die, the Lord willing, with my boots on and with the sword in my hand.

I was recently told by two surgeon specialists that I have an amazing testimony, living only through the grace of God, and must begin sharing it with the world.

Maturity is a state of being, not a label. I hate the labels given to mature persons – Senior Citizen, Golden Years and, worse still, Sunset Years.

But even worse than Sunset years are such false images as over the hill, graying of Barbados, put out to pasture.

When society wants to get rid of you, the tag – Senior Citizen – is placed on you. No one is going to put Gordon MacDonald Matthews out to pasture.

I am not over any hill. I butt and kick harder now than ever before. Maturity is something to be proud of and the world has come to realise that mature people are the ones with the answers and solutions to our problems.

Experience comes only with time. Barbados needs Owen Seymour Arthur now more than ever before. He is now ready because of his competence and experience. Experience and competence are now our greatest need.

GORDON MATTHEWS

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