05.08.2026 | Friday in Eastertide

​A WEIRD OLD MAN
 
I was reading an article in the @nytimes about “The Gift of Getting Weirder with Age.” It was thoughtful and beautifully written, as expected. I agreed with most of it, though I had to smile at the idea of getting weirder with age. I’m not sure I have much room left for that.
 
I’ve always lived a little off to the side of the main path. Not as a rebel, just as someone who wandered where curiosity tugged. I was the band kid with a reading list that made librarians tilt their heads. Even now, when Amazon tries to recommend books to our shared account, the poor algorithm looks like it needs a nap. Confusing it is one of my small joys.
 
I’ve always marched to the rhythm of my own small percussion section. At this point, changing would require more energy than I possess. I am who I am, shaped by grace and time and a thousand quiet moments. That old saying, “God don’t make no junk,” still feels true in my bones. I hope all of us who feel a bit different can remind the world that being different is not a flaw. We offer color, texture, and unexpected beauty. Without the odd ones, the rainbow would be beige.
 
As I prayed and thought about this whole idea of getting weirder with age, I found myself imagining Jesus during His ministry. Talk about someone who must have seemed strange. Did you run out of wine at your wedding? “Hey, Jesus!” He loved a good party. He welcomed the wrong people. He told stories that unsettled the comfortable. He was not the Messiah the establishment expected. He was the holy troublemaker who kept messing with the tidy order of things.
 
Maybe the world needs that kind of strangeness again. Maybe the time is ripe for people who see differently, love differently, hope differently. We might not fix everything, but we could bring beauty, music, and a few good belly laughs back into the room. At the very least, the soundtrack would be better and the decorations more interesting.
 
Weirdos? Yes. The world could use more of us. And I could use the laughter.