A new book study from The Wisdom Years – Spirituality for the Last Third of Our Lives
Thursdays, 4 p.m. (Central time) on Zoom
8 weeks starting October 15
(Ending Dec. 10. Not meeting on Thanksgiving, Nov. 26)
In essays, poetry, and reflections on life gathered over his 80 years, master writer Parker Palmer invites us to travel this last season of our lives with courage, clarity, and an expectation of joy and peace. Palmer is concerned with finding meaning in what our lives offer us now and gleaning from our histories all that has made us who God created us to be.
Our format will be reading and reflecting on a chapter each week on our own, then gathering in small groups to process what our souls have revealed to us. We will not offer advice or pronouncements, but will glean insights by listening to each other. Groups will be gently structured to allow each person time and space to offer reflections.
And stick around after the study each week for Happy Half-Hour, 5 to 5:30 pm. Bring the beverage of your choice.
In the eight weeks of our inquiry we will look at:
Prelude – reframing aging as a passage of discovery and engagement, not decline and inaction.
The View from the Brink – keeping our eyes open and asking the right questions
Young and Old – young and old connecting are like poles of a battery – energy is released
Getting Real – the spiritual life as an endless effort to penetrate illusion and touch reality
Work and Vocation – not the jobs by which we made a living, but the callings by which meaning becomes possible
Keep Reaching Out – staying engaged with the world
Keep Reaching In – staying engaged with our souls
Over the Edge – what happens when we die?
To purchase a book from St. Mark’s Bookstore and have it mailed to your home, contact Carla Pineda atcarlaleedpineda@gmail.com. Or purchase a book on your own.
To join this study or if you have questions: send an email to Marjorie George atmarjoriegeorge62@gmail.com. Forward this notice to others you know of who might like to join us.
Do not now seek the answers which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them and the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answers. – Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.”
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.
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.
“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. “
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.
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
10 am to 2 pm – teaching, discussion, small groups noon to 2 p.m. – individual reflection and response offline. 2 pm to 4 pm – teaching, discussion, small groups
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.
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.
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 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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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 issueis 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.
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?
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.
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.
Join us for a day of learning, sharing, praying, and reflecting with fellow travelers as we engage with some of the important topics for the last third of our lives.
Looking age in the face
Redeeming loss and suffering
Hallowing our limitations
Doing our inner work
Leaving a legacy
The online retreat will offer two teaching and discussion sessions separated by a long offline break for individual reflection.
Retreat leader is Ann Hoffman, a spiritual director, guide, and workshop leader who counsels with older adults. Learn more about Ann.
We will give you suggestions for creating your own sacred space and encourage you to enter into the retreat as fully as you are able.
The teaching sessions will be conducted using Zoom conferencing. Don’t know how to use Zoom? We can help you get started.
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.
Stillness is vital to the world of the soul. If as you age you become more still, you will discover that stillness can be a great companion. The fragments of your life will have time to unify, and the places where your soul-shelter is wounded or broken will have time to knit and heal. – John O’Donohue, from Anam Cara
Asking yourself two simple questions could be the start of a daily examen without the guilt. Editor Cindy Bunch suggests a way to do the examination of conscience without moving to a place of shame, worry, and despair.
Notice when you are bugged. That statement stopped me short as I was reading. The things that bug me can form a low hum in my brain throughout a day. They can spoil — or threaten to spoil — the other lovely moments of the day. Read Two Simple Questions for Cultivating Self-Kindness FROM: Renovare
Midwives of Hope
by Fr. Ron Rolheiser
In many societies, it is the attendance of a midwife that brings a healthy baby into the world. The same can be said for a good midwife who can bring to life the trust and hope that sometimes get lost in our later years. We not only need midwives, we can be midwives in a world that has become skeptical and cynical.
Something inside us wants to trust, to hope, to believe in the goodness of things, to again feel that trustful enthusiasm we once had as a child, when we were innocent (and “innocent” means “unwounded”), when we could still take another’s hand in trust. No one wants to be outside the circle of trust.
But it’s a struggle, an agony of sorts, as we know. We’d like to trust, but often we can’t give birth to it. That’s where a midwife can be helpful.
The little boy on his first flight asked his mom when they would start getting smaller. After all, the airplanes he watched take off from the airport always got smaller as they moved across the sky.
Navigating life faithfully during the Coronavirus epidemic may be a huge challenge for you. Your experience of God may seem to be receding. Where do you look for the stability and permanence you need to navigate life not only in the best of times but in the worst of times? Here are several suggestions.
Writer Carl Honore turned 50 and changed his mind about what it means to grow older. In this video, Honore looks at ways to combat ageism.
Many of us have negative views about growing older, but in this insightful TED Talk, award-winning writer Carl Honore encourages us to adopt a new perspective. If we learn to view aging with excitement, wonder, and as one of life’s greatest adventures, we can look to our futures with hope and positivity.
The Wisdom of Wild Grace – an online Weekend Retreat from Ireland
Oct. 3-4, 2020
With Christine Valters Paintner
This two-day virtual retreat over the Feast of St Francis will explore the gift of Earth as our original monastery. Live from Galway, Ireland, sessions will include presentations, reflections, song, meditations, poetry, creative exercises and explorations, gentle movement, small group and partner sharing, guidance for time outside in between sessions, and time for questions and input.
NextAvenue, which defines itself as the “public media’s first and only national journalism service for America’s booming older population,” is looking for original essays with an insightful perspective on aging.
In a first-of-its-kind initiative for Next Avenue, we would like to invite you, our readers, to tell your stories. From July 24 through August 31, readers age 50+ may submit a 500-word original essay focused on a topic or experience of your choosing. We’re looking for insightful essays that illuminate a truth or teach us something new.
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.
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.
As we come to know our soul gift more clearly, we almost always have to let go of some other “gifts” so we can do our one or two things with integrity. Such letting go frees us from always being driven by what has been called the “tyranny of the urgent.” Soon urgency is a way of life, and things are not done peacefully from within. What if we choose to simply do one or two things wholeheartedly in our lives? That is all God expects and all we can probably do well. Too much good work becomes a violence to ourselves and, finally, to those around us.
Let’s just use our different gifts to create a unity in the work of service (Ephesians 4:12–13), and back one another up, without criticism or competition. Only in our peaceful, mutual honoring do we show forth the glory of God.
Poet Naomi Shihab Nye, who lives in San Antonio, made a new friend in the Albuquerque airport, a friend who spoke only Arabic. Read the lovely story of cultures coming together. “This can still happen anywhere. Not everything is lost,” concludes Nye.
“Wandering around the Albuquerque Airport Terminal, after learning my flight had been delayed four hours, I heard an announcement: ‘If anyone in the vicinity of Gate A-4 understands any Arabic, please come to the gate immediately.’ Well—one pauses these days. Gate A-4 was my own gate. I went there.” Read the rest of the essay.
FROM: Kolbe Times. Find more poetry, essays, and conversations with Joan Chittister, Brian McLaren, Ron Rolheiser, Richard Rohr, and others at Kolbe Times. Subscribe to receive their free magazine.
Creeping
By Br. James Koester SSJE
We are in a time of not knowing – not knowing what the future will look or when. All we can do is take one step at a time. Or even just creep along.
“There had been moments during the week when I could not imagine it was possible for me to walk another 40, or 30, or 20 miles. What I could imagine, was taking one more step. And so I did. And then another. And another. And another. That week was full of single steps.” Read the rest of the essay.
Elaborate preparations are usually made during pregnancy for the new life to come. For Christians, that includes planning for the baby’s baptism. “What might be the equivalent of baptism on the other end of life’s continuum?” asks writer Caryl Ann Casbon.
“The dying often experience major spiritual and relational breakthroughs, even up to the last days of life, when defenses drop and hearts break open. Hospice professionals compare dying to the birth process and helping someone with dying as similar to the role of the midwife assisting at the birth of a baby.” Download the rest of the essay.
FROM: A resource from Center for Courage and Renewal. See their Aging with Wisdom program for upcoming retreats. http://www.couragerenewal.org
Letting Go of False Fear
It has taken him 50 years to get over his fear of God, says Ron Rolheiser, now president of Oblate Seminary in San Antonio.
“I’m a cradle Catholic, born to wonderful parents, catechized by some very dedicated teachers, and I’ve had the privilege of studying theology in some of the best classrooms in the world. Still it took me fifty years to rid myself of a number of crippling religious fears and to realize that God is the one person of whom you need not be afraid. It’s taken me most of my life to believe the words that come from God’s mouth over three hundred times in scripture and are the initial words out of the mouth of Jesus whenever he meets someone for the first time after his resurrection: Do not be afraid!” Read the rest of the essay.
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.
Wisdom Journey: Pilgrims Traveling Together in the Last Third of Our Life
An online day retreat led by Ann Hoffman
Friday, September 18, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Cost: $40
Registration opens August 13
The last third of our lives is not a time of non-life, merely coasting toward death, but a new stage of life. It is a season given to us as lagniappe – something extra offered as a gift. Just when we thought we had lived all there was for us, we discover that God has something more – an additional time for evaluating the best of our lives and passing on our wisdom to those coming behind us. It is a season meant to be taken more slowly, more reflectively, more intentionally. The task of these years is to celebrate the blessings and navigate the diminishments that time brings.
But how? In this online retreat we will engage with several practices that can guide us in these years to live more fully than ever before. Throughout our day we will consider:
Reframing aging and dying
Looking at the blessings and burdens of aging
Learning to live with limitations
Finding gratitude by rummaging for God
Becoming a Christ-gift for others
Accepting uncertainty
Dealing with doubts and disappointments
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.
We will give you suggestions for creating your own sacred space and encourage you to enter into the retreat day as you are able.
The teaching sessions will be conducted using Zoom conferencing. Don’t know how to use Zoom? We can help you get started.
When you register, we will send instructions for the day. You will need to have Internet access and a computer with microphone and built-in camera. You can use a tablet, but a computer is preferable.
The Wisdom Years 