Far too often, we put people in boxes. We then label the boxes ‘useful’, or ‘not useful’ somewhere in our head, and then treat the person accordingly. ‘Oh, you’re ill, long-term? Into the “sick” box’; ‘Elderly? Into the “senior citizen” box.’ Yeah, okay, we don’t *mean* to. We often don’t even know that we’re doing it. But we do.
The problem is, allowing our subconscious to do that, unchecked, leads us to approach people differently: condescendingly, with pity, or half-attention. And they feel it. Believe us. They feel it. When we let something like ‘old’ define our view of someone, we reduce them. And that’s definitely not how God sees them. Psalm 139:16, talking about how God plans our days, says, ‘…Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed’ (NLT). Now think back to that elderly person that you might dismiss as simply ‘old’… Yeah. God is still planning their days. He still has a reason, and a purpose for them. In fact, check out Psalm 92. It says that God’s people will ‘still bear fruit in old age’ (Psalm 92:14 NKJV). Y’know, maybe there’s someone near you who’s been dismissed so many times that they no longer know that, themselves. Maybe you could show them the truth. Maybe, just maybe, it’s time that we looked to minister to, and *be* ministered to by, those who we might normally write off without even realising.

What Now?
Visit a grandparent, a great aunt/uncle, a neighbour, or even someone that you don’t know in a local care home. Take a gift. Ask questions. Receive advice. Laugh with them. Just make time, and space, and give real attention.