Month: October 2019

At least sixty-five per cent of all major changes happen after age 65. These include, among other life-changing events, the loss of a spouse, the loss of a job, and the loss of health. It is also true that wisdom is often born out of wrestling with the changes we experience in life. As those who now find ourselves in the second half of life, we have the ability to act on this wisdom and the responsibility to pass it on.

Re-Designing Your Life: A Practical Spirituality for the Second Half of Life is intended to help people over 50 to cope with transitions and to help people live their lives with spiritual integrity. The book aims to help people discern their calling and to live lives of meaning and joy.

Readers are invited to think of their life as a house undergoing renovations where, with God’s grace, we get to design something new and life-giving. Through practical exercises, thought-provoking discussion topics, stories from the Scriptures, and memorable anecdotes, Re-Deigning Your Life will guide people through:

Coping with endings, empty-nesting and retirement;

Caring for self while caring for elderly parents, partners and grandchildren;

Letting go of things that get in the way of becoming your true self;

Strengthening relationships; and

Finding your passion and calling in the second half of life.

Both individuals and small study groups will find this book helpful. Each chapter comes with a set of questions for discussion, as well as suggestions for further reading and popular contemporary films that can promote further conversation and reflection. There is also a set of videos produced by the author to accompany each chapter of the study.

Mardi Tindal, former Moderator of the United Church of Canada, writes: “Re-Designing your Life is a must-read for pastors, congregations and individuals who want to discover God’s calling in the second half of life.”

 

This past week I have been attending the Presbyterian Older Adult Ministry Network POAMN) Annual Conference, which took place on the beautiful campus of Louisville Presbyterian Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. One of the most active participants was a ninety-one year old woman from Grosse Isle, just outside Detroit. She is a founding member and has been with the organization since its inception some 35 years ago. She told us how her most important mentors in the faith were her mother and grandmother. Her story reflects that of the disciple Timothy, whose faith Paul credits to his mother Eunice and grandmother Lois.

Another woman at our conference told us about two very important faith formation groups in her church in San Antonio: “Grandfamilies”, a support group for grandparents raising their grandchildren, something we are seeing much more of these days, and “Bad A Grandmas!” I’d love to be a “Bad A Grandma”! I imagine Lois was a “Bad A Grandma” to Timothy, challenging him to be all that he could be and to do all that he could do to serve the Lord, but also loving him unconditionally as only a truly “Bad A Grandma” could do! Whether you have grandchildren or not, you can be a mentor to some young person seeking someone with whom to share their questions about life, someone to accompany them in their faith journey. You too can be a “Bad A Grandma or Grandpa!”

 

As we approach the celebration of our Canadian Thanksgiving holiday, we recognise that we Canadians have much for which to be thankful. This is good.  Studies have been done, for example, that show that when you express thankfulness, you also bolster your own self-worth and self-esteem. It also helps you to build friendships and strengthen existing ones.

The world’s most prominent researcher and writer about gratitude, Robert Emmons, defines gratitude as “a felt sense of wonder, thankfulness, and appreciation for life.” This weekend, therefore, I invite you to give God thanks for all the blessings you enjoy in life. Think also of others who have not been so blessed and find ways to help them. Remember: gratitude is something that not only blesses the person being thanked; it also blesses the one who offers gratitude.

I leave you with an old reflection that you have likely read many times before, but which still packs a powerful punch:

• When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator and I immediately wanted to paint another one.–  When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you make my favourite cake for me and I learned that the little things can be the special things in life.

  — When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you make my favourite cake for me and I learned that the little things can be the special things in life.

• When you thought I wasn’t looking I saw you feed a stray cat, and I learned that it was good to be kind to animals.When you thought I wasn’t looking I heard you say a prayer, and I knew there is a God I could always talk to and I learned to trust in God.
• When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you make a meal and take it to a friend who was sick, and I learned that we all have to help take care of each other.
• When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you give of your time and money to help people who had nothing and I learned that those who have something should give to those who don’t.
• When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you take care of our house and everyone in it and I learned we have to take care of what we are given.
• When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw how you handled your responsibilities, even when you didn’t feel well and I learned that I would have to be responsible when I grow up.
• When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw tears come from your eyes and I learned that sometimes things hurt, but it’s alright to cry.
• When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw that you cared, and I wanted to be everything that I could be.
• When you thought I wasn’t looking, I learned most of life’s lessons that I need to know to be a good and productive person when I grow up.
• When you thought I wasn’t looking, I looked at you and wanted to say, ‘Thanks for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn’t looking.’

 

 

“ReDesigning Retirement: A Practical Spirituality for the Second Half of Life”

I am very excited to be able to offer this one day workshop for our clergy who are nearing retirement, as well as those who have already retired! Please join me and colleagues Rev. Kevin Steeper and Rev. Ann Corbet for this special day in this beautiful, peaceful setting near Paris, Ontario!

Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019

10-4 pm

Five Oaks Retreat Centre, Paris, Ontario

This is a study day for clergy in the WOW, HF and ARW regions.

Come and enjoy a day of reflection, silence and fellowship in the

beautiful space of Five Oaks.

Cost: $40.00 per person and this includes lunch

Copies of my book, “Re-Designing Your Life”,  will be available

at the cost of $20.00.

Registration: Please contact Ruthanna Mack at RMack@united-church.ca