The middle-aged might complain with some justice that the Church makes no special provision for them. The lambs of the flock are well shepherded; the problems of youth we are never allowed to forget. Old age receives the consideration it deserves; but those who have reached middle life are largely left to their own resources, as if sufficient in themselves.
The fact is that no stage of life needs more spiritual care than this intermediate one. Many people who, in childhood and youth, show much promise; in middle-age lose interest and become weary in well doing. Not a few give up worshiping God, both in public and private.
Why this spiritual decline? It may be that the world, like a python, slowly strangles the spirit, leaving us disillusioned and cynical, and the child who with Solomon asked for wisdom rather than riches or long life, finds himself going after other gods in his maturity because divine wisdom and piety give no immediate assurance of success.
Or it may be weariness that clogs the soul, the weariness of seeing the yearly cycle repeat itself so often that the very course of nature becomes vanity. When a ship puts out from harbor and our native cliffs begin to recede, there is a pleasant excitement among the passengers aboard; and that pleasurable feeling is renewed when we first catch sight of the distant shore to which we sail. In mid-ocean, however, the romance of voyaging is apt to disappear. Sea and sky, with no alluring islands between, beget monotony and even misgivings. It was in mid-ocean that Columbus faced a mutiny, and out of the boredom of middle life may come a revolt against our early vows to God.
God’s means of grace are a precious solace at this critical stage, and spiritual discipline a powerful antidote to the danger of the doldrums in the mid-journey of life:”. . . and at noon, pray and cry aloud, and God will hear your cry.”