Nouwen: The Challenge of Aging
“Waiting patiently in expectation does not necessarily get easier as we become older…As we grow in age we are tempted to settle down in a routine way of living and say: “Well, I have seen it all. … There is nothing new under the sun. … I am just going to take it easy and take the days as they come.” But in this way our lives lose their creative tension. We no longer expect something really new to happen. We become cynical or self-satisfied or simply bored.”
—Henri Nouwen
I am thinking of the normal routine of so many people our age. Many think they deserve to rest because they have worked so hard for so many years. But I am learning there are many forms of rest. We can sit and talk or watch movies with our grandchildren. Eventually we will tell our story to them. This, I think, is one of our greatest ministries to let those who will live on after us know the story of our family. My experience is they may not be interested in hearing unless we are doing something together, becoming their friend, not just being their grandparent. My husband tells family stories occasionally as he takes our grandchildren to school. Of course, he doesn’t do it every day or they might become bored! We can be story tellers while fishing or walking, hiking or crafting or fixing dinner or eating meals together. Telling our family story gives our children and grandchildren roots, roots which connect them to a loving God. It also helps us to recount our own story and the purpose of our own life and our roots
Do not be discouraged if family members are not interested. Consider writing or making an oral video of your story. At some time, often after we have died, maybe not until members of our family are our age do they become interested. My experience is that the older we become the more we look for our roots. It is a way of grounding ourselves, connecting us to the earth from which we came and will return. This also becomes a story where we, ourselves, still find even more awareness. As we tell our story we begin to realize how a loving God worked in our life and the lives of our family at every turn, every day. We may only begin to comprehend this when in time we begin to share the history of our family and how God and God’s love was and is with us at every turn.
Joanna. joannaseibert.com
A Lenten Retreat Holy Trinity Episcopal Church Memphis
Saturday March 14, 2020 10 to 3
Forgiveness and The Spirituality of Aging
The Rev. Joanna Seibert Deacon St. Mark’s Little Rock