Going Downhill Now (??)

I always knew that 21 is popularly honored as a significant age.

I didn't know how much so until shortly before my birthday. That was when I overheard a conversation between two people in their mid-twenties who agreed that "life goes downhill after you turn 21."

I think they meant that being old enough to drink...I mean, to drink legally....is the proper peak of existence.

Apparently, my existence is on a lower plane. Someone told me on my birthday that I should at least buy alcohol, even if I didn't plan to drink it. I just stared. Then in a flattering display of my newly birthed maturity I sputtered, "What a WASTE!! Do you know how many candy bars I could buy with that money, and actually eat them?" (He laughed.)

I was informed again on Saturday that there is nothing left to look forward to after 21. I admit, there is a side of me which finds it all rather funny. But there is a side, too, that is sobered almost to the point of tears.

It is no joke to live life in a sea of souls who can't hope for anything more than legal intoxication.

How can I ever sit untouched in the midst of such hopeless, purposeless, meaninglessness?

I, who knows each year that I am redeemed from sin. Who counts each year a year closer to Christ. Who hopes each year to be more like Christ. Who plans each year to enjoy life more because it is a gift of God. I....how can I sit untouched? How can I not mourn? And how can I be silent when I know there is a better way??