Author: Marjorie George

A weekly collection of inspiration and resources for the journey, gathered from websites, books, and pass-alongs that have been shared with us. From The Wisdom Years – Spirituality for the Last Third of Our Lives.

I Go Among Trees

I go among trees and sit still. 
All my stirring becomes quiet around me like circles on water. 
My tasks lie in their places where I left them, asleep like cattle.

Then what is afraid of me comes and lives a while in my sight. 
What it fears in me leaves me, and the fear of me leaves it.
It sings, and I hear its song. 

Then what I am afraid of comes. 
I live for a while in its sight. 
What I fear in it leaves it, and the fear of it leaves me. 
It sings, and I hear its song. 

After days of labor, mute in my consternations,
I hear my song at last, and I sing it. 
As we sing, the day turns, the trees move. 

~ Wendell Berry from Sabbaths

THIS WEEK

• Stillness
• Some Light-Hearted Thoughts on a Very Heavy Subject
• Compassion + Resilience – A Day Apart
• Two e-courses from Spirituality and Practice
• Monarch Butterfly and Pollinator Festival

Stillness

By Marthe Curry

Through the years, studies have been done on the effect noise has on stress and fatigue.  As expected, people exposed to higher levels of noise experience more stress and greater fatigue whether in an office or airplane or any other venue with noticeable decibels of noise.  And, if you’re one of those people who has full concerts or speeches or sports events going on in your head 24/7, imagine the stress level and fatigue exposure.

Read the entire essay and see more of Marthe’s posts.

Some Light-Hearted Thoughts on a Very Heavy Subject

By Fr. Ron Rolheiser

Some years ago, a friend of mine was facing the birth of her first child. While happy that she was soon to be a mother, she openly confessed her fears about the actual birth-process, the pain, the dangers, the unknown. But she consoled herself with this thought: Hundreds of millions of women have done this and have somehow managed it. Surely, if so many women have done, and are doing, this – I too can manage it somehow. 

I sometimes take those words and apply them to the prospect of dying. Death is the most daunting, unsettling, and heavy topic there is, for all of us, our occasional false bravado notwithstanding. 

Read the entire essay

FROM the blog of Fr. Ron Rolheiser

Compassion + Resilience: Spiritual Resources for Polarized Time

Online Day Apart Academy 
October 24, 10 am – 6 pm (Central time)

We live in polarized times. Political and religious divides threaten the bonds of civil discourse that sustain our communities; and tensions around race continue to rise to frighteningly violent proportions. The turbulent storms within us, as well—fear, anxiety, despair, and enraged indignation—wreak havoc within our minds, bodies, and spirits. For spiritual resources that ground us in our sacred source, still the storms within us through self-compassion, and cultivate a world where people of difference can live with one another in a spirit of dignity and mutual understanding, join Frank Rogers, Jr. and Christopher Carter for an Online Academy Day Apart (with plenty of free time, body movement, and  experiential learning).

For more information and to register

FROM The Upper Room Spiritual Formation Academy

Two e-courses from Spirituality and Practice

The Rise of Spiritual Intelligence
with Jan Phillips

October 5 – 30, 2020

This e-course brims over with hope: the energy that sustains a new vision while it moves from the realm of the imagination into the realm of manifest reality. Hope is desire in love with wisdom. It is not a powerless waiting for, but a powerful welcoming of the future we are creating. It is re-orienting to a new star.

Read more and sign up

Embracing Living: The Welcoming Prayer – 2020
from Contemplative Outreach

October 5 – 30, 2020

This gentle method of prayer has a surprisingly vast impact on life, so much so that practitioners say they don’t know how they lived without it. This course is for beginners and anyone who wants a refresher.

Read more and sign up

Monarch Butterfly & Pollinator Festival

October 1-29

The fifth annual Monarch Butterfly and Pollinator Festival moves online this year. Presented by Texas Butterfly Ranch, the month-long festival will honor the memories of family, friends and loved ones lost to COVID-19, social injustice, and other causes in 2020.

The Festival unfolds during peak monarch migration season with virtual workshops, teacher training, the delivery of “caterpillar condos” to Title 1 schools, the construction of a Dia de la Memoria/Day of Remembrance altar at Confluence Park in San Antonio, and the release of monarch butterflies tagged in the names of those lost during this unique and challenging year.

Find all Festival events here.

FROM Texas Butterfly Ranch

If you have something to add to Gathered Wisdom, send it to Marjorie George at
marjoriegeorge62@gmail.com

 Gathered Wisdom is from The Wisdom Years, a ministry that invites older adults to deepening spirituality in the last third of their lives. If someone forwarded this to you, learn more about The Wisdom Years and subscribe to the site at
ww.wisdomyears.org.

A weekly collection of inspiration and resources for the journey, gathered from websites, books, and pass-alongs that have been shared with us. From Spirituality in the Wisdom Years.

Gathered Wisdom is taking a week off next week. No GW on September 23. We will be in the back yard enjoying fall. You should be, too.

God of our evening years, 
hold us close to your heart. 

Holy Spirit, breathe your breath of hope and renewal into us 
so that strengthened and renewed 
we might continue the race set before us 
in confidence and hope. 

In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

From God Pause, Luther Seminary. 

This Week

• Thou Shalt not Kill
• Don’t Just Do Something, Pray!
• Old Things in New Ways
• Empowered Elder Workshop

Thou Shalt Not Kill

by Fr. Ron Rolheiser

“Killing is not just a brute external act; it is, in its more common form, a subtle internal thing. All of us break the fifth commandment in countless ways. We do it in the negative and suspicious judgments we make about each other. Almost every minute of our lives, we are making judgments of others and in doing that, we are killing those around us, shooting them through the heart just as surely as if we were doing it with a gun.”

Read the entire essay

FROM the blog of Ron Rolheier

Don’t Just Do Something, Pray! 

Recap from the webinar

What kinds of healthy risks should we take? How do we dis­cern God’s voice? What if I’m in too much pain to pray? Car­olyn Arends of Renovare asks these and oth­er lis­ten­ers’ ques­tions to Pete Greig (founder of the 24 – 7 Prayer move­ment) and Lisa Koons (24−7 Prayer USA Direc­tor) in this webi­nar recap bonus episode.

Listen to the recap

fROM Renovare

Old Things in New Ways

First Open Gathering on September 23

Are you seeking time and space for meaningful connection with God and others? The brothers of Society of St. John the Evangelist warmly welcome all to join them online for a time of worship, reflection, song, prayer, and spiritual practice in their virtual Chapel.

To learn more and to register

FROM Society of St. John the Evangelist

The Empowered Elder Workshop

Tuesdays: October 6 – November 17, 2020

“The Empowered Elder Workshop provides a safe space for Elders to explore and share deeply what is on their hearts about the world, the future and their roles as elders. We investigate what it means to be an elder, why the world today especially calls us to step up as elders to address the social and environmental challenges humanity faces. “

Learn more & Register

FROM The Elders Action Network

A weekly collection of inspiration and resources for the journey, gathered from websites, books, and pass-alongs that have been shared with us. From Spirituality in the Wisdom Years.

Register Now for our online workshop/retreat:
Pilgrims Traveling Together in the Last Third of Life

Giving

Each of us, as we journey through life, has the opportunity to find and to give his or her unique gift. Whether this gift is quiet or small in the eyes of the world does not matter at all–not at all; it is through the finding and the giving that we may come to know the joy that lies at the center of both the dark times and the light.

— Helen M. Luke in Kaleidoscope: ‘The Way of Woman’ and Other Essays by Helen M. Luke

To Practice This Thought:
Identify one talent you possess that has enriched the lives of others.

From Spirituality and Practice

This week

Our email this week brings several online opportunities. Some focus on ways elders can lend their wisdom and expertise to social action and justice issues; others invite us to deep spiritual work. We pass them along and encourage you to explore them as you wish.

From SAGE
The mission of SAGE is to inspire people over fifty to give forward with their time, money, and voice to enable younger and future generations to thrive. SAGE motivates action and volunteerism through grassroots conversations and leadership development, so that older adults engage in and support causes and nonprofit programs that are vital to the needs of children, youth, and future generations. 

A Meaningful Life for Your Money

September 13, 3 to 5:30 pm CDT
Cost is on a sliding scale, $25 to $100 

At a time when many small businesses are struggling and racial justice and equity are front of mind, many people – with a variety of financial resources – want to know how they can help support the things they care about. Money is one way – and it is impactful.
For more information
To register

Starting a Community Project in Uncertain Times

September 15 and 29
Cost: Sliding scale of  $20 to $40

Many of us have great ideas for the change we want to see in the world, but we also have questions about how to get started and maintain progress. In this two-part webinar, we’ll address the steps to initiate your own community-based project and help you get started. Perhaps you could lead a monthly beach cleanup, volunteer to run a school library, raise funds for playground equipment, train teens to prepare for summer jobs — or pursue other projects that benefit coming generations.
For more information
To register

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From Elders Action Network
The Mission of the Elders Action Network is to build a movement of elders to address the social and environmental crises of our time. From their website: Within our American society, elders’ talents and experiences are generally untapped; their collective wisdom gained over decades of living largely lies fallow. This is an unfortunate waste of invaluable human resources that could be applied to addressing the serious societal and environmental problems of our nation. As Elders, we call upon men and women of all ages to embody the universal values of respect, compassion, caring, equality, integrity, justice, non-violence, and reverence for life. 

Elders Listening Circles

Tuesdays: September 8, 15, 22
12 to 1:30 pm CST 

Deep listening is a gift we give to each other. These gatherings will hold a safe space for us to share what is on our hearts and in our minds about what is happening in our country, in our lives, and to Mother Earth. All voices and feelings welcome. 

The Circles will not have an “agenda” but will be facilitated so all are heard and emergent topics are addressed. Join us for all three or only one.
Learn more and sign up here 

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From Sage-ing International
Sage-ing International is dedicated to helping elders reclaim their role as leaders, sharing wisdom and spirit essential to creating a better world for current and future generations. Sage-ing International is committed to transforming the current paradigm of aging to sage-ing through learning, service and community.

Legacy Writing Workshop

Sept 15 – information here

Nov. 10, Dec. 8, Jan 12 – information here
Cost: $95 per session

Legacy Writing is a pathway for elders to find their spiritual selves, to have a deep connection with loved ones and future generations by sharing their stories, beliefs and values in legacy letters.

For more about Sage-ing International

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From Renovare

Ren­o­varé USA is a Chris­t­ian non­prof­it that mod­els, resources, and advo­cates full­ness of life with God expe­ri­enced, by grace, through the spir­i­tu­al prac­tices of Jesus and of the his­tor­i­cal Church. 

Chris­t­ian in com­mit­ment, ecu­meni­cal in breadth, and inter­na­tion­al in scope, Ren­o­varé helps peo­ple in becom­ing more like Jesus. 

Don’t Just Do Something, Pray! (How to Integrate Prayer with Other Forms of Action)

Sep 10, 2020, 12 pm CDT (free webinar)

 “Prayer without action,” says Pete Greig, “is just religion in hiding.” Greig is a best-selling author, pastor, and bewildered instigator of 24-7 Prayer — an international, interdenominational movement of prayer, mission, and justice that has reached more than half the nations on earth. Joined by 24-7 Prayer USA Director Lisa Koons, and hosted by Carolyn Arends, this webinar will explore topics like:
•How to pray for and respond to crises, both personal and large scale
•How to process unanswered prayer while still praying with expectation
•Why God invites us to take risks in prayer and action
To register
Learn more about Renovare

A weekly collection of inspiration and resources for the journey, gathered from websites, books, and pass-alongs that have been shared with us. From Spirituality in the Wisdom Years.

Register Now for our online workshop/retreat:
Pilgrims Traveling Together in the Last Third of Life

September 18, 10 am to 4 pm

Two live teaching and sharing sessions
– 10 am to noon and 2 to 4 pm –
will be separated by a long break for individual reflection and response offline.

Our day will be constructed around prayer, teaching and sharing sessions, Q and A time, and small-group discussion. This is a day of coming together in community to share the blessings and challenges of being an older adult.

For details and to register

Diving into the Deep

The religious searcher should be a diver through the deeps of ancient wisdom, seeking to bring up to the surface those concepts that can illuminate life today. Not all truth will be discovered in what is to come; some must be recalled from what has been forgotten. 

— David J. Wolpe in In Speech and In Silence: The Jewish Quest for God by David J. Wolpe

FROM Spirituality and Practice 

This Week

• Sharing Wisdom
• Hope in God
• Mourning
• An Audio Meditation for These Days of Uncertainty

Sharing Wisdom

by the Rev. Ripp Hardaway

The Rev. Ripp Hardaway, rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in New Braunfels, Texas, has some advice for us: Never test the depth of the water with both feet. He learned this, he says, from a wise elder. In fact, Hardaway believes we all have a lot of wisdom to pass on to the next generation and a lot to learn from the previous one.

One of the great gifts of those who possess wisdom is their willingness to share what they have gained by years of practice.  In many cultures there is a great awareness of the need to seek that personal connection seamlessly or organically.  Today we hire coaches, teachers, tutors and the like, and too often our wisdom is limited to those who can afford it.  I am not certain that this is working;  I am quite sure that it is costing us as a society when wisdom is not passed from one generation to another.

Read the entire essay.

FROM: This article was originally published in the magazine Moxie, winter/spring 2015 edition. Moxie is no longer in print. Thanks to Julie Chalk for sharing it. 

Hope in God

by Br David Vryhof, SSJE

Remember Corrie ten Boom and her book The Hiding Place? We all read it in the 1970’s. Brother David recalls her words just now as we struggle to navigate the challenges we find ourselves and our country in.

We can find courage to fight on in the examples of those who have gone before us. I’ve been reflecting recently on the words and wisdom of Corrie ten Boom (1892-1983), a Dutch Christian woman who, with her father and sister, helped Jews escape the Nazis during World War II by hiding them in their home. 

Read the essay

FROM Society of St. John the Evangelist 

Mourning

by Fr. Ron Rolheiser, OMI

Our culture does not give us permission – or time – to mourn. We are encouraged to move on, pull ourselves together, and cry quietly. Ron Rolheiser, president of Oblate Seminary in San Antonio TX, says that is damaging to our souls.

We have many things to mourn in life: We are forever losing people and things. Loved ones die, relationships die, friends move away, a marriage falls apart, a love we want but can’t have obsesses us, a dream ends in disappointment, our children grow away from us, jobs are lost, and so too one day our youth and our health. Beyond these many losses that ask for our grief there’s the need to grieve the simple inadequacy of our lives, the perfect symphony and consummation that we could never have. Like Jephthah’s daughter, all of us have to mourn our unconsummation.

Read the entire essay

FROM The blog of Ron Rolheiser

An Audio Meditation for These Days of Uncertainty

By Nathan Foster

An audio med­i­ta­tion led by Nathan Fos­ter to help us set our minds on what is good, beau­ti­ful, and true in the midst of uncertainty. This meditation was recorded in March, 2020, when the pandemic was just beginning and we knew not what was ahead. Six months later, we still don’t know.  Listen to the end to discover a beautiful compline prayer from the Northumbria Community. Nathan Foster is Director of Community Life at Renovare.

Listen to the meditation.

FROM Renovare

If you have something to add to Gathered Wisdom, send it to Marjorie George at
marjoriegeorge62@gmail.com

Gathered Wisdom is from Spirituality in the Wisdom Years, a ministry that invites older adults to deepening spirituality in the last third of their lives. If someone forwarded this to you, learn more about Spirituality in the Wisdom Years and subscribe to the site at
ww.wisdomyears.org.

Register Now for our online workshop/retreat:
Pilgrims Traveling Together in the Last Third of Life

September 18, 10 am to 4 pm

Our day will be constructed around prayer, teaching sessions, Q and A time, and small-group discussion. Two live teaching sessions – 10 am to noon and 2 to 4 pm – will be separated by a long break for individual reflection and response offline. This is a day of coming together in community to share the blessings and challenges of being an older adult.

For details and to register

Patient Trust

Above all, trust in the slow work of God.

We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.

And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through some stages of instability—
and that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
will make of you tomorrow (that is to say, 
grace and circumstances acting on your own good will.)
Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.

—Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ
excerpted from Hearts on Fire

From the website of Ignatian Spirituality.com

When is Our Life Fulfilled?

by Fr. Ron Rolheiser

One of the questions of aging is “Am I finished? Have I done all I am going to do? Was it enough?” Fr. Ron Rolheiser insists that aging includes giving off our “seed” for the benefit of those who come after us.

But when [aging] is seen in the light of Jesus’ life, we see that in our fading out, like a flower long past its bloom, we begin to give off something of more value than the attractiveness of the bloom. 

Read the full essay

FROM Fr. Ron Rolheiser blog

Volunteer Opportunities in Your Area of Interest

The August 2020 edition of Sage-ing International’s newsletter is not only devoted to activism, it also offers information about dozens of social-action organizations. The list is categorized by areas of interests, such as peace, literacy, and inclusiveness.

This issue is meant to offer two gifts: It demonstrates to all of us that strong, determined people are working on every front to resolve the problems that break our hearts. It lights the path by which we can join allies in working to better our world.

We need all hands on deck to address our humanitarian and environmental crises; happily, we humans have a profound need to feel useful. We hope this list is useful in lighting a path to the activism you want to take.

Read the newsletter

FROM Sage-ing International

How Gratitude Breaks the Chains of Resentment

An excerpt from Henri Nouwen’s book Spiritual Formation suggests that ministry is about offering our own human brokenness to a world that needs a word of hope. When we minister out of our weakness, says Nouwen, we get more than we give. 

True lib­er­a­tion is free­ing peo­ple from the bonds that have pre­vent­ed them from giv­ing their gifts to oth­ers. This is true not only for indi­vid­ual peo­ple but also — par­tic­u­lar­ly — for cer­tain eth­nic, cul­tur­al, or mar­gin­al­ized groups. What does mis­sion to the Indi­ans or Boli­vians or dis­abled per­sons real­ly mean? Isn’t it fore­most to dis­cov­er with them their own deep reli­gios­i­ty, their pro­found faith in God’s active pres­ence in his­to­ry, and their under­stand­ing of the mys­tery of nature that sur­rounds them?

Read the excerpt

FROM Renovare

Unlikely Pen Pals Form a Special Bond

An idea for churches: match elders with youngsters and encourage a friendship online or with written letters. That’s what one retirement center did.

Addie Fenster, 7, and Gary Melquist, 73, both felt lonely due to the isolation caused by coronavirus. Gary’s retirement home connected him with Addie and they became pen pals. The pair swap letters and artwork, and have formed a very unlikely, but very sweet, special friendship.

Watch the video of these two new friends.

FROM Happify Daily

Way of the Monk, Path of the Artist online retreat

A 12-week companion retreat to The Artist’s Rule (in community)              
September 7 – November 28, 2020
with Christine & John Valters Paintner

Many have enjoyed the book The Artist’s Rule. Enjoy it again or for the first time in an online course.

Lots of new content including a weekly live webinar with Christine and a weekly scripture reflection from John.
For details and to register.

DROM Abbey of the Arts

If you have something to add to Gathered Wisdom, send it to Marjorie George at
marjoriegeorge62@gmail.com

Gathered Wisdom is from Spirituality in the Wisdom Years, a ministry that invites older adults to deepening spirituality in the last third of their lives. If someone forwarded this to you, learn more about Spirituality in the Wisdom Years and subscribe to the site at
ww.wisdomyears.org.