Why does our culture fail to value the beauty of elderhood?

When I'm in the presence of Earth's oldest living creatures - 5,000 year-old Bristlecone Pines - I feel such dignity, wisdom and loveliness. It's amazing to me how much beauty there is in trees this old. They really are works of art, with their sensuous curves, varied textures and vibrant colors. I wonder why our own culture has such a difficult time valuing the aging process? Is it because we - unlike the indigenous cultures on whose land we are living - do not foster the development of the spiritual wisdom that the Creator intended would be a natural outcome of the aging process? Or is it because we do not know how to perceive the richness of inner beauty? Or perhaps because we have so little awareness of the Eternal Now which forms the backdrop upon which ALL of life's stages, both early and late, are able to appear and thrive? It's definitely a question for all of us to ponder . . .

Photos: Trees and cones in The Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest near Big Pine, CA, July 20, 2015. The mountains in the background are the Sierra Nevada.