Day 5: The Voyage of Life—Old Age

The Voyage of Life: Old Age
Thomas Cole 1842 Oil on canvas
National Gallery of Art, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund
https://www.nga.gov/artworks/52453-voyage-life-old-age

In Old Age, the river meets the ocean. The stream is now devoid of natural life, desolate and barren. Life and fertility have been replaced by death and decay.

Throughout the series, the use of a river voyage to symbolize life’s journey has allowed Cole to depict changes in time by showing the aging traveler. He also symbolizes changes in the seasons of life through the varying landscapes.

The hourglass is gone from the boat, and the boat itself has been totaled. All the voyager has left now is God’s sovereign protection and guidance.

For the first time, the man beholds his angelic guide and his destiny before him. As we follow the voyager’s gaze heavenward, we see not only the angel that has been with him his whole life, but also other angels off in the distance, ready to welcome the voyager to his eternal home.

A Visual Sermon

One commentary describes the Voyage of Life series as “a visual sermon,” pointing readers to the source of our ultimate rescue and hope.

That source of lasting hope is not material riches or the natural world; it is the one true and unchanging God.

As Psalm 90:2 says, “Before the mountains were born or You gave birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.”

Similarly, Psalm 145:13 speaks of the kingdom of God that supersedes earthly kingdoms: “Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures throughout all generations.”

The Ocean of Eternity

Although this series was completed nearly 200 years ago, Cole’s paintings retain an extraordinary allegorical power just as relevant today.

That the river of life stops for no one is a universal truth deeply imprinted onto human existence. Time runs its course in cycles of birth, growth, decay, and death. Despite the repetition of these processes from one life to another, they collectively move in a linear path, culminating in a single end: the “ocean of eternity,” as Cole called it.

Along the way, the turbulence of life prompts a crucial decision: Do we trust in our own ability to navigate, or do we surrender to sovereign guidance?

At the end of our earthly voyage, we each must confront the choice that we made, the consequences of which will be immutable.

Choosing Life

Scripture teaches that death does not have the final victory; there is more to live for than what we can see on this earth. As the apostle Paul writes:

“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:55–57)

Material possessions and human ambition will decay like our bodies, but faith in God leads to everlasting life.

Believers in Jesus Christ have access to the hope of an eternity with God. Knowing this truth transforms our perspective. Life is no longer an endless series of empty pursuits that leave us lost and unsatisfied. Rather, it is a purpose-filled pilgrimage in which we’re preparing for our eternal home and drawing ever nearer to the Lover and Savior of our souls.