In some ways progress has been made in public attitudes toward the elderly. One indication of this is that the mandatory retirement age is retreating. Also, the skills of older people are being more widely recognized.

Christian Science explains why age has no actual connection with man and why one need not, therefore, submit to the limitations associated with advancing years. It reveals man as spiritual and immortal, inseparable from God, who is Life itself. It explains the mental nature of the "aging process" and shows how to deal with this imposition through prayer.

The mortal concept of life—that man is born into matter, progresses through various physical stages to adulthood, enjoys a few years of vigorous, productive living, and then goes physically and mentally downhill—is refuted by Science. In reality, there are no stages of physicality, no declining years, because there is no material birth. Man is perpetually the perfect likeness of God, and that likeness is spiritual. Mrs. Eddy states in Science and Health, "Never born and never dying, it were impossible for man, under the government of God in eternal Science, to fall from his high estate." ^{Science and Health, p. 258;}

When should we start praying about this problem of age? Right now, regardless of how old we are. Even young people need to claim their freedom from the limitations of age. A young person, for example, may need to deal with the belief that he or she is too young to get a job, just as an older person may need to deal with the belief that he or she is too old to keep one. Whatever concepts unjustly limit us, they need prompt attention in Science.

Fear has to be eradicated—fear of becoming useless, sick, poverty-stricken, lonely. Those who fear that someday they'll be unable to care for themselves can come to see more clearly through the Science of Christ that God maintains His children forever, that none can be outside His care.

The Bible states, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever." ^{Ps. 23:6;} Fear is unreal. There is no room for it in the understanding that life is spiritual, inseparable from God.

Time is another element that needs to be dealt with through prayer. Days, months, years, are material measurements, taking place only in a supposititious material mentality. We don't have to submit to the claim of failing faculties because of passing years. In her definition of "day" Mrs. Eddy writes, "The objects of time and sense disappear in the illumination of spiritual understanding, and Mind measures time according to the good that is unfolded." ^{Science and Health, p. 584;}

Recently I had to renew my driver's license. I wondered if I would be able to read the eye chart without glasses, because I had had difficulty doing so during a previous eye exam. As I prayed about this, I knew that age could not restrict me in any way. I understood that because spiritual discernment never grows dim, time could not dim my perception of true, spiritual existence. I passed the test without difficulty.

Depleted strength is a false belief, and we can conquer it through spiritual understanding. Older people often feel that they are having to slow down—that they can't do all they used to do. But the prophet wrote, "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength." ^{Isa. 40:31;} Strength has nothing to do with age but with our dependence on God. It is important that we not only refuse to think of ourselves as growing old or weak but also refuse to see others this way.

Living in the past, a tendency frequently associated with age, hinders us from enjoying the present. Every moment can be proved to be good because all being is actually derived from God. Paul said, "Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." ^{Phil 3:13, 14;} This pressing forward is easier if we refuse to succumb to the suggestion that life is passing us by. Mrs. Eddy succinctly comments, "Tireless Being, patient of man's procrastination, affords him fresh opportunities every hour . . . ." ^{Christian Healing, p. 19;}

Regardless of our age or situation, we can make a vital contribution to humanity's well-being. We can pray scientifically for the world—realize the true nature of creation under God's government and tackle specific problems with this understanding. Church work offers plenty of opportunity to serve. The thought that one should permanently retire from this work hardly represents pressing "toward the mark"!

These words from a hymn clearly point to the reality of existence:

Life is eternal because Life is God, without beginning or end We can prove this, and the sooner we begin the better.

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
my soul shall be joyful in my God;
for he hath clothed me
with the garments of salvation,
he hath covered me
with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments,
and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

Isaiah 61:10