ELDERS AND THE WORD

[A 3-minute read]

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” — John 1:1

Creation begins with the Word.

Not with force. Not with dominance. Not with control. With the Word.

Speech is not decoration in this opening expression. It is power. It is origin. It is substance. It can be, and should be, considered holy.

If the word is foundational, if the word is sacred, then what we say is never trivial.

And yet in our culture, words have become light. Flexible. Strategic. Disposable.

No longer are our words said denotatively, the literal, dictionary definition of the word. We don’t use the word literally in its proper sense with the same meaning in every instance.

Nope, we use Words connotatively, emotionally, and culturally, with implied meanings beyond their dictionary definitions. We stretch and manipulate the word to mean what we want, not what the truth is.

We say what works in the moment. We revise our words when it costs us. We use words to position ourselves. We signal instead of stand. We exaggerate, fabricate, and embellish. And OMG, in our politics, our marketing, our social feeds, to ourselves, we simply lie.

A lie is a deliberate separation between what is known to be true and what you choose to say or present as true.

A lie is not a mistake.
A lie is not ignorance.
A lie is not incorrect.

A lie is deliberate.

A lie requires intention.

A lie is the conscious distortion of reality for advantages, protection, avoidance, or manipulation.

A lie is not harmless.

A lie lacks integrity.

A lie robs you of your dignity, nobility, and ultimately your higher humanity.

When your word lacks integrity, you fracture yourself.

Integrity of your word is when what you say, what you earnestly believe, what is real in the world, form one single line. Not three lines. Not a public version and a private one. No, who you are, what you say, and what you do are one, whole, inseparable. Then your word has integrity.

When your word drifts from who you are, trust erodes — first inside of yourself, then around you. When you are untrustworthy of yourself, you suffer. When you are untrustworthy to others, you suffer. A lose-lose occurrence.

A culture such as ours, that does not honor its word, cannot sustain trust. And without trust, everything becomes negotiation, suspicion, and leverage.

When your word lacks integrity, relationships weaken, institutions wobble, and in politics, it becomes theater.

THE ELDER’S DAILY CHALLENGE

The Elder’s daily challenge is to be impeccable with their word, even though the culture, the technological companies, and the politics seem to be moving in the opposite direction.

Elders have listened to the teachings.

Gautama Buddha taught Right Speech — words that are true, helpful, timely, and kind. False speech harms not only others but the speaker. Words generate karma. They shape the world you must then inhabit.

Jesus Christ stripped speech down to its moral core: “Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ be ‘No.’” No embellishment. No strategic ambiguity. No inflation of oath. Integrity means your word does not need reinforcement because it is already the truth.

The Torah goes further still. In Exodus: “You shall not bear false witness.” If you make a vow, you must not break your word. Your speech is binding. What you speak carries the heaviest weight.

For Elders, we learn, you do not say what you do not mean. You don’t make promises that you will not keep. You do not adjust the truth to get applause. And when you do break your word, admit it, correct it, and be responsible for the damage. Do not split yourself.

If begins with your word.

Elders know:

Be your word in speech and deed.

That is integrity. That is your North Star.

And without it, nothing trustworthy and lasting can be built.

HOW ELDERS WILL RESTORE INTEGRITY

This is one strategy for restoring integrity to our culture’s word.

I’ve done the numbers.

There are currently 61 million people aged 65 or older. My estimate is that 20% of the 65+ are ready and able to transition from ‘Older’ to ‘Elder’. That is between 18-19% of the population, or one out of every five people.

That 20% number is 12.2 million authentic Elders by 2028. Elders who embody and practice honoring themselves as their word. And given it is the fastest growing population at %, the numbers will continue to rise.

Twelve (12) million people represent roughly 3.5–3.6% of the U.S. population. Put simply: about 3½ out of every 100 Americans.

This population is estimated to grow, 2015–2025: ~2.8% to 3.2% per year for the next decade.

The 3–5% Rule delivers the “Active Minority Effect.”

Political scientist Erica Chenoweth found that when ~3.5% of a population actively participates in sustained movements, cultures shift.

Chenoweth studied hundreds of movements and observed that no culture had withstood sustained participation above roughly 3.5%.

By Elders honoring themselves as their word and living within this discipline, without pointing fingers at others, integrity can be restored to the words spoken in our culture. And that my readers will transform the culture.

Acknowledgment to My Readers:

Thank you. Please consider how these posts influence your thinking about growing old, becoming an Elder, and how Elders view the world. For some, a new possibility is occurring, and for some, reinforcement of what you already knew – your future being an Elder.

The number of Elder conversations per week by organizations, communities, groups, and individuals can total 50,000 globally.

It’s working. Elder as a distinction is becoming real in the country.

Good work. Keep it up.