RBWords - Volume 31 - Number 4: April 2018
Something to Think About
RBWORDS – VOLUME 31 – NUMBER 4 – APRIL 2019
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT –
Advancing into the second half of the seventh decade of my life has given much to think about and I have been reading books and articles on the spirituality of aging. There is no lack of material, believe me! I’ve tried to prepare for this in a way by ceasing, five years ago, any efforts to solicit opportunities for retreats and parish missions and just accepting what came from referrals and retreat requests. My body has also been telling me that the stress of travel and the variables in food and living quarters is now unacceptable. So, I am going to be very careful about the location and requirements of new commitments. There is more than enough to keep me occupied at the university parish we staff in Lubbock, the health care is excellent and the students are ever a source of energy for the elder figure who occasionally pops into the Catholic student center. Our Dominican Province does not use the word “retirement,” but we do have a category called “limited service,” which I will become a member of in the next couple of months.
In the meantime, I am learning a lot about the importance of gratitude for what has been and what people offer to older folks like me. I am also learning to make sure I tell my loved ones that I do love them. Those two things show up in almost all that I am reading. I don’t find those tasks very difficult, but I do have to remember to do them! I expect to say more on this subject, but I hope this bit will give my Beloved Readers SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
It Has Been Said
IT HAS BEEN SAID
“An elder is a person who is still growing, still a learner, still with potential and whose life continues to have within it promise for, and connection to, the future. An elder is till in pursuit of happiness, joy, and pleasure, and her or his birthright to these remains intact. Moreover, an elder is a person who deserves respect and honor and whose work it is to synthesize wisdom from long life experience and formulate this into a legacy for future generations.”
From Barry Barkan, futurist and gerontologist, quoted in FROM AGE-ING TO SAGE-ING – A REVOLUTIONARY APPROACH TO GROWING OLDER by Z. Schacter-Shalomi and R. S. Miller
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