Dear Senescent Saints:

I don’t recall exactly when or where I first read these ominous words about aging, but I have thought of them often over the past few years: “Sarcopenia is the age-related progressive loss of muscle mass and strength.” I remember in my forties glossing over the phrase with a blithe sense of confident exemption; after all, at that age I could still carry two boxes of books up several flights of stairs. Even into my fifties, helping our daughter move into a three and a half story walk-up left me winded, but with a deep sense of accomplishment and enough concrete evidence to assure my denial of decline. But now, when removing a cup of reheated coffee from the microwave can force me to my knees with a roll of paper towels, I’m beginning to admit defeat.

I believe there is no accident that the Greeks paralleled the terms sarcopenia and sarcasm. Both begin with the word for flesh (σάρξ, sarx). Sarcasm carries the literal connotation of ripping flesh from bone; think biting sarcasm. Sarcopenia carries the suffix πενία (penia), a word meaning poverty or want. (I’ll leave any cognate for penia to your own minds.) Sarcopenia, then, may be translated as a poverty of the flesh; or, as I am finding more coffee inside the cabinet door, the mocking sarcasm of one’s weakening muscles that not only spilled coffee, but also laughed at you when you tried to stand after wiping the floor. I have reflected on aging before, only to hear many of you respond, “Just wait, Jonathan. Age has many more sarcastic remarks before it’s done.” But indulge me here; I’m still comparatively new at this.

Flesh (σάρξ) was a favorite word of the Apostle Paul, who spoke of it as the source of primitive appetites at war with a desire to do good. As we read in yesterday’s Epistle Lesson, “For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it.” (Romans 7.18, NRSV) Today’s casual paraphrase could read, “I know that I am really bad at this, that is, doing things with my weakening muscles. I can will to safely remove a coffee cup from the microwave, but when I try, I spill it all over the counter, the cabinets, the floor, the side of the stove, etc… Oh, wretched man that I am.” (Romans 7.24a) I used to read Paul’s disparaging use of the word “flesh” as a metaphor for human sinfulness, but when I consider that the Apostle was in his late fifties as he wrote those words, I think he may have been expressing disgust with creeping sarcopenia.

Paul’s antidote to the condition of the flesh was, of course, the grace of God. And perhaps that’s the infusion one needs to endure limitations brought on by aging. Sarcopenia, like presbyopia or achromotrichia, is not pathological. Annoying, but natural. As we age, it’s easy to become impatient with ourselves and those other old people who used to be our age. The church is full of songs about Jesus loving the little children; perhaps we need an additional verse that includes ‘all the geezers of the world’. As with every phase of life, aging may require leaning more heavily into God’s grace. Oh, and more paper towels.

Looking for ways to grow in grace, I remain,

With Love,
Jonathan Krogh
Your Pastor