By Ricardo Gutiérrez Ballarín, Spain.
Life expectancy is growing, and in Europe, there will be more old people. Now, a person of 70 years can still do a lot of things. But it is clear that the body deteriorates over time. They say that aging begins to manifest in many ways at 50.
For example, the muscular system atrophies and its force decreases, the joints deteriorate and erosions appear; the bones with osteoporosis weaken, the skin loses freshness, softness and smoothness, it wrinkles and spots appear.
Likewise, capillary blood flow is minor, connective tissue increases and there is a minor water content; white hairs appear, hair becomes thinner, thin and it falls; genital atrophy appears and therefore sexual desire diminishes; digestive system presents a bad absorption, producing gases and constipation, the respiratory tree ages and sore throat and bad ventilation take place; heart deteriorates and arteries harden; cerebral weight is minor, with loss neuronal and sleep disorders; vision also presents a progressive loss with opacities and cataracts; average ear deteriorates and perception alters, etc. All these symptoms produce diseases like: arterial hypertension, blood circulation problems, senile dementia, Alzheimer, incontinence and falls.
For this reason, our society conceals old age. Now, young and beautiful presenters who say goodbye expressing "be happy" are looked, but they are fired when they are 50 . Television wants to give the sensation of living in a land of young people where old people and death do not matter. But as Calderon de la Barca wrote “life is a dream and it flies. Old people are like survivors of a fight in which they have to overcome diseases and dangers. They have lost friends and love ones and they verify how their forces diminish. And it is when on knees before the altar, Jesus’ words are experienced: "Come to me who are tired and oppressed ".
Church doctrine is for all ages but in temples there are fewer young people and more adults. Old age is the age when sheep are separated from the goats, when many vanities are exceed and when we give value to what really has it. It is the moment when our grandchildren forget us and there are only a few friends that support similar experiences as best they can. Old age is the age at which church receives adults, as the true mother who has given us freedom, but in difficult times, in the last stage of life, we turn to it to find consolation, protection and to mitigate our pains.
After birth our parents took us to the church to baptize us and after death we are taken to the church for a funeral mass. And to write in our graves or say when our ashes are thrown, "Father, into your hands I commend its spirit."
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