By Frank Ramirez

With their bags packed and left waiting to be loaded on buses, those in attendance at the final worship service of NOAC 2006 heard a comprehensive call to service in the name of Jesus. Using many personal anecdotes and a range of concrete illustrations, Mary Cline Detrick, pastor of the Daleville (Va.) Church of the Brethren, challenged seniors to use their gifts in the service of Christ.

Detrick called to mind a 1994 protest by grandmothers that was not daunted even by a major snowstorm blanketing the east and resulted in the reinstatement of over a hundred older women who had been released by the fast food chain Long John Silver’s because of apparent age discrimination. The story of a retired newspaper executive which led to a reduction of homeless in the Miami area from over 8,000 to less than 1,700 was paired with the efforts of two retirees, Ruby and Gene Lee of the church she serves, who have made nine trips together on behalf of Disaster Relief projects.

There were many other stories, all told to display how we can shine the light of Christ. “We are the light of the world because we know Christ,” she continued. Which led her to admit she sometimes gets frustrated with the song, This Little Light of Mine. “The light of Jesus is no little light,” she said. “It is in our breathing in and our breathing out.”

The culture, she stated, “tells us to focus on ourselves,” and encourages seniors to seek only personal satisfaction. “Relax, you’ve earned it!” we are told. But God calls us to become “an amazing, passionate light making a difference in the world.… Sometimes I think we’re afraid of passion. But passion makes things clear. You have a focus. Nothing else matters.”