Dealing with life's Long and Winding Road

"When I get older losing my hair, many years from now …"

I first heard the lyrics to that Beatles song, "When I'm Sixty-four," as a ninth-grader. I was only 15. The words were very singable. And as "teeny boppers" on American Bandstand used to say when they'd rate-a-record on TV, "It had a good beat and you could dance to it."

But as I sang along with "Will you still need me. Will you still feed me ..." I wasn't anticipating what it would be like to actually be 64. For a freshman in high school, that seemed like light years away.

Well, I recently turned 64 and I have lost most of my hair. And, for the record, what's left has lost its curl and its original color.

As I reflect on what it's like to be on the threshold of retirement age, I realize other lyrics of the Fab Four provide me a meaningful perspective.

At this age, as the challenges of growing older show up as uninvited houseguests, I am tempted to put a bit too much stock in yesterday. While all my troubles seemed so far away back then, I'm not sure Lennon and McCartney's lyrics are totally true. Although life was simpler back then, the older I get the more I tend to romanticize the past.

As someone once said, "what makes the good old days the good old days is a bad memory."

There is nothing quite as wonderful as today. Even when it appears that troubles are here to stay, my three-score-and-four years has taught me "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."

While I long for yesterday on occasion, I'm grateful to God for the gift of today. In terms of tenses there is a reason why we call it "the present."

Now that I am 64, I also find myself meditating on the refrain of McCartney's masterpiece "Let it Be!" While Paul was thinking of his mother (Mary) who died of cancer when he was only 14, I'm inclined to think of the Virgin Mother of my Lord.

Remember how Mary responded to the angelic messenger who informed her she had been chosen for the overwhelming task of birthing and raising the Son of God? She humbly acquiesced and replied, "Let it be to me as you have said!"

When I find myself in times of trouble (and who doesn't as they enter the autumn of life), I find great comfort in voicing Mother Mary's words, "Let it be!"

I tend to believe that verse in the Bible I learned as a boy that says, "All things work together for good to those who love God …"

Accepting what God allows in my life and not fighting it is the first step in trusting Him for how things will all work out for good. And so I am increasingly learning how to pray, "Let it be, Lord! Let it be!"

The older I get, the more I am making peace with the fact that life is The Long and Winding Road. It is best evaluated when we take a long view looking back at how far we've come.

We do ourselves a favor when we quit expecting that the road will be toll-free or predictable. I've come to accept the fact that there are blind curves and unexpected detours.

I value how the late M. Scott Peck began his book "The Road Less Traveled:" "Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult - once we truly understand and accept it - then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters."

Peck was right. So were the Beatles. The Long and Winding Road leads to the door of opportunity where we find that all we need is love, no matter how old we are.

• The Rev. Greg Asimakoupoulos is a former Naperville resident who writes regularly about faith and family.