Don't Park Now: God's Purpose for Your Next Season
Bill O’Brien of the church in Bethel, Alaska has an 80-year-old sister. He said her life motto is “Keep Moving.”
Movement matters. One writer made an observation that stuck with me: the Bible’s posture of praise is constant motion. Think about that. Praise — one of the more spiritual thing we do — is not static.
It is not a recliner position.
It is not a relaxed posture of having arrived.
It is not the laxness of “I’ve done my part.”
And if praise itself is motion, then perhaps the Jesus we worship is calling us to something more than stillness in this season of life.
There is a reason God hardwired us for movement. From the first breath of life until the last day of our earthly assignment, we were created to keep going — not to coast, not to idle, and certainly not to park.
For Sage-agers, “Keep Moving” isn’t just good advice. It’s a Biblical mandate wrapped in a practical strategy. Here’s what research confirms — and what the Word has always said. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Carlton L. Coon, Sr., UPCI Sages National Director, Co-Pastor/Author
Keep Moving — Physically
The temptation after 55 is to treat rest as a reward for a life well-lived. But the body was
designed for motion, not maintenance.
The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) consistently reports that regular
moderate physical activity in adults 65 and older reduces mortality risk by up to 35%. A
landmark study published in The Lancet found that physical inactivity is responsible for more than 5 million deaths per year globally. The impact of physical inactivity is on par with smoking.
The Mayo Clinic notes that adults who engage in 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity per week have better cognitive function, cardiovascular health, and emotional resilience.
If the posture of praise is constant motion, then moving this body — the temple of the Holy Ghost — is itself an act of worship.
Caleb didn’t ask for a recliner at 85. He asked for a mountain (Joshua 14:12).
Practical Suggestions:
Walk daily — even 20–30 minutes makes a difference. Find a friend to walk with. Make it a conversation, not a chore.
Stretch each morning — five minutes of gentle stretching reduces joint stiffness and signals your body that is is time to engage the day.
Swim or water walk — If you have the opportunity these are ideal for managing arthritis or joint pain. Such exercise allows full movement with minimal impact on the joints.
Join a Silver Sneakers or local senior fitness program — many are free with Medicare Advantage plans. In Missouri, hundreds of Fitness Centers welcome those on Medicare at no cost.
Serve physically at church — set up, tear down, stack chairs, greet at the door.
Ministry is physical. You may not be the person to paint the steeple, but you can join the cleaning team and vacuum the church.
Keep Moving — Mentally
Cognitive decline is not inevitable — it’s often an accelerated due to mental disengagement. The brain responds to challenge the same way your muscles do: use it or lose it.
Research from the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center (Chicago) — specifically the landmark Religious Orders Study and Rush Memory and Aging Project — found that intentional engagement and mental stimulation significantly delayed the onset of Alzheimer’s symptoms, even in those with markers for the disease. Dr. Gene Cohen’s research at George Washington University concluded that creative mental engagement in older adults produced measurable improvements in health, mental health, and social connectedness.
Motion for the mind is its own form of praise. A mind actively engaged in learning, teaching, and thinking is a mind that refuses to say God is finished with it. Imagine a future Sage Ministry that offers Sages Bible Quizzing as an opportunity to be challenged to learn scripture, while competing with others in the same age group.
Paul, writing from a Roman prison, told Timothy: “Give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” (1 Timothy 4:13). He was mentoring from confinement. From the same setting, he requested that his books be brought. Paul never stopped thinking. Neither should you.
Don’t bury your mind in the inane, long before you are through needing it.
Practical Suggestions:
Read widely and regularly — biography, history, theology. Schedule it like an appointment.
Learn something new — a language, an instrument, a craft. Novelty builds new neural pathways. Many universities allow Sage-agers to audit courses for a nominal fee.
Teach what you know — nothing sharpens the mind like preparing to communicate. Mentor a younger person on how to pray, teach a Bible study,
Limit your passive screen time — watching is not the same as engaging. Trade some screen hours for a book or a substantive conversation.
Write — journal, blog, correspondence, or your personal history, using my book Elder, Tell Me Your Stories, or something similar to compile your life experiences for the arriving generations. Writing is thinking made visible. Late in her life, Nona Freeman would send Norma and me a handwritten note. She always started with, “Dear Ones,” Those notes are treasures to us. Who would treasure such notes from you?
Keep Moving — Spiritually
This is the one category where age is not a liability — it’s an asset. The deeper reserves of Scripture, experience, prayer, and tested faith that come with decades of walking with God are irreplaceable.
But regardless of past experience or impact, spiritual momentum, like physical and mental momentum, requires intentional effort to sustain.
A 2019 Pew Research study found that adults 65+ report the highest levels of religious
engagement of any demographic — daily prayer, Scripture reading, and a sense of spiritual peace. Yet researchers who study second-half spirituality note a common danger: trading the living fire of active faith for the comfort of spiritual nostalgia.
We can rehearse what God did without expecting what He will do.
This is where that phrase cuts deepest. If the posture of praise is constant motion, then spiritual stillness isn’t rest — it’s drift. Moses was 80 at the burning bush. John was an old man on Patmos — still receiving revelation. Neither of them had stopped moving toward God.
Practical Suggestions:
Establish a daily Scripture and prayer rhythm — not as a duty but as a deployment briefing. You are still on assignment.
Fast intentionally — even modified fasting keeps the spirit in authority over the body, and Scripture honors it at every age.
Stay connected — isolated people tend to decline spiritually. The early church gathered, and so must we.
Engage in active ministry — do what you can, rather than resent what you cannot. Reach out to the sick and grieving, evangelize your peers, encourage your pastor, mentor the young. Spiritual movement is outward, not only inward.
Expect God to still speak — keep a journal of what He is saying now, not just what He said then. Caleb’s faith was present tense: “I am as strong this day . . .” (Joshua 14:11).
Keep Moving — Because the World Needs You
The writer said the posture of praise is constant motion. If that’s true — and I believe it is — then every walk you take, every book you read, every prayer you pray, every younger person you invest in, is an act of praise. It is your body, mind, and spirit declaring together: God is not done with me yet.
The world does not need you on the sidelines. The church does not need your experience fossilized in a pew. The next generation does not need your memory — they need your presence.
Keep moving. Physically. Mentally. Spiritually.
The posture of praise demands nothing less.
You are not retired. You are redeployed.
UPCI Sages 55+ exists to mobilize adults in the second half of life for active, purposeful ministry. Learn more at upcisages.com.
Please note: The author has two books focused on the Sage age. Saging Well - the Best is Yet to Be is available as an audiobook, ebook, large print, or print at Amazon. Elder, Tell Me Your Stories is a hard-bound legacy book of questions to help tell your stories to others. 20% of revenue is donated to UPCI Sages.