Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

• Genesis 6:1-3

The New Boilerplate

My wife filled a small book with “Angel” on the cover.  It was hidden with a box of crafting things.  On 18 July 2025, I thought I had posted the last of these.  But this little angel book held a prayer, followed by 71 quotes.  So, the “with a little help” series is back in business for a while.  And it will be fun for me.  She did not attribute any of the quotes.  The first quote was from James A. Garfield, the 20^th president of the USA.  The next one was disputed, with some thinking it originated with Teddy Roosevelt and others saying Fred Astaire.  After the prayer, these might be on the lighter side.

Her quote

“My health is good; it’s my age that’s bad.”

• Roy Acuff

The Discussion

My wife worried about things that she could not control, but when it came to age, she would say that it is just a number and she was on borrowed time.

Her father passed when he was 61.  Her mother lived to be 91.  My wife said that she was more like her father, from a health point of view.  Both of her parents got open-heart surgery, but only my wife joined them out of the nine children.

This quote did not match my wife.  She always had something wrong.

But I was praised by my new barber the other day.  He said for someone of my age, I did not have a cane, but he missed the one I left by the chair in the waiting room.  I did not have hearing aids, but I chose to not wear them – too irritating taking them out for the haircut and then putting them back in.  And I still had enough hair on my head to comb.

Okay, one out of three was not bad, I suppose, but the one that counted meant I had to keep seeing him on occasion.

But the way he phrased it is part of what Roy Acuff was talking about.

My health is good, but every doctor, and most people, are placing a scale next to your broken body that reads “for your age.”

My hair is mostly black, but I get that genetically from my father who passed away at age ninety with only a little silver at the temples.  I have not had a major surgery, but my next trip to the heart catheterization lab may result in a stint or two or three.  As of now, still unscheduled.

So, yes, for someone my age, I am doing pretty well.  My memory is good.  And another thing… My memory is good.  Note: That was part of a Rich Little impersonation of Joe Biden.  As it turned out, the joke was not that funny.

But when God limited our lives to 120 years, it seems we have found new ways of shortening that expected life span.  For one thing, that was the maximum (with a few key exceptions).  But very few people get anywhere close.

And I do not wish to slow down much more.

Why?

I have things to do.

If God is willing…

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory