A few weeks ago, my husband attended a workshop on Scottish food and drink. It was a recreational class, and he went to enjoy new cuisine and learn a little more about the culinary history of the Scots (for example, how in the world did haggis come about?). After an afternoon of learning about the geography and its effects on the various products that come out of Scotland, the instructor said something fascinating: “Our palates don’t fully develop the ability to appreciate a range of bitterness until we’re in our late thirties or early forties.”

Physiologically, this makes sense—small children have more taste bud density than adults, which is why picky eaters can grow up to be adventurous foodies. But what struck me more profoundly is the fact that foods we would spit out in our twenties can be appreciated and understood more fully as we age.

I see the parallel with our lives in Christ quite strongly. What seems at first blush to be loss (the declining density of our taste buds), can in truth become gain (the ability to distinguish a range of bitterness). What seems to be a restriction (our declining ability to move the ways we would like), can become gain (our increasing appreciate and wonder for what is before us right now.)

Just as we at first see suffering as the enemy, as we grow and age, we begin to understand what Paul is saying when he writes in Colossians, “Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.” (Colossians 1:24, NIVScripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™) What was once something to be avoided at all costs, something that we would immediately spit out of our mouths, becomes instead something in which the savor of Christ is revealed to us.

Wisdom, of course, isn’t a guaranteed outcome of aging (consider, for example, Job’s frustrated and rhetorical questions in Job 12:12). Just as we can stubbornly hang on to our dislike of tomatoes instead learning to appreciate something that we might otherwise reject, so too can the process of aging make us narrower and less peaceful. Growing in wisdom is more often than not a product of learning to walk well through adversity, something aging brings us in abundance. In order to age well, we must learn to appreciate those things we might not otherwise choose, and come to see the blessing and love of God in the midst of even the most bitter of circumstances. We must learn to number our days well, to live like we’re dying, in order to embrace all of life as it is now—the sweet and the savory, the bitter and the spice.

This issue of Conversations Journal tackles all of the bitterness, blessing and complexity that comes with the topic of “Wisdom & Aging.” You’ll hear from voices who have journeyed the path well, and those who are just at its outset. Of course, you’ll find all of the usual features in these pages, from Marilyn McEntyre’s “O Taste & See” to our popular column on family and formation, “As For Me And My House.”

In our Transformational Theology section, Eugene Peterson graciously talks to us about the ways in which wisdom comes to us, and the responsibility of the church to help us learn to die. Then you will hear a beautiful and moving tribute to the wisdom of Dallas Willard, who we sadly lost in 2013, from author and pastor Trevor Hudson who speaks of the ways that Dallas challenged him to live joyously.

As you turn to our Honesty About the Journey section, you’ll see a familiar face in our own Emilie Griffin, who talks about the ways that she has gathered wisdom in her later years. In “Older & Wiser,” Doug Rosenau takes an honest and forthright look at the challenges and opportunities of intimacy as we age. Then in Life Together, Conversations Founding Executive Editor Larry Crabb talks about life’s lessons in community and grace as he journeys in the second half of life, while Lane Arnold and Valerie Hess talk about the grace and glory of walking with those who are dying—which is all of us, every day.

In Intentionality of the Heart, Kurt Willems tells a heart-rending story of how mentorship gone wrong can deeply wound us, and calls forth what millennials in the church need for effective mentorship relationships. Professor and author Julie Gorman follows with a piece called “Aging and Maturing” that explores both Scripturally and personally the ways that God invites us to wisdom and meaning as we age. Finally, in Classical Spiritual Exercises, monastic oblate Paula Huston shares the spiritual practices called forth in the second half of life in “A Season of Mystery,” and spiritual director Sharon Swing invites us through visual meditations and examining our stories to find wisdom in “Listen to My Life.”

I hope in these pages you’ll find an appreciation for the range, flavor and taste of what the world calls bitter—the process of aging—and begin to see how even the things we used to reject can call forth wisdom and life.

[i] Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™