To Age Gracefully

Dear Friends,

This week, I am turning 6o years old. I know that for some people, that kind of life-

marker is met with dismay or even disdain. But for me, it’s a wonderful, joyful and

exciting thing! I am thrilled to be reaching this new phase in my life, and to have so

many incredible gifts and opportunities ahead of me.

Change is something that we can tend to resist, especially if the changes are ones we

did not intentionally set in motion. And changes related to aging can be distressing, if

we perceive them as limiting our ability to express ourselves in the ways we have

always done.

And yet aging can be amazing! Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, author of From

Age-ing to Sage-ing®, started a whole movement—now called Sage-ing

International—that sees the second half of life, the elder years, as an incredible gift to

ourselves and to the world. Rabbi Schachter-Shalomi describes elders this way:

as they break free of society’s conventions, elders learn to follow the dictates of

their own hearts, a state that Chinen calls “emancipated innocence.” Because

they have individuated through facing personal evil and abandoning private

ambitions, older people can then work for the well-being of the world. Serving as

mediators between the transcendent and everyday realms, they become

mentors, teachers, and spiritual leaders. (From Age-ing to Sage-ing: A

Revolutionary Approach to Growing Older)

I love this understanding of the ‘golden years.’ I wish that I had had the kind of wisdom

that comes from life experience in my younger years, because I probably would have

done some things differently. But I wouldn’t trade those experiences, including the

mistakes and missteps, because they gave me insight, clarity, and compassion. I know

it’s a cliché, but I’m trying to treasure every wrinkle and sign of aging in my physical life

as evidence that I am living it to the fullest.

And ‘aging’ doesn’t have to mean ‘declining.’ Even if our physical capacities do decline

(and sometimes they do), or if our cognitive abilities are reduced (and sometimes they

are), we can still love. We can still enjoy the beauty of a fall afternoon. We can still

hug our loved ones. And, like a recent grandmother I saw on the national news, some

of us are still sky-diving at 100! I haven’t ever done that, but this week I spent over an

hour 15 feet in the air in a tractor bucket working on our hoophouse roof. What a view! So each birthday, to me, is like a wonderful new surprise waiting to be unwrapped.

Who knows what magic awaits around the next bend in my life journey! I am glad to be sharing it with all of you.

In gratitude,

Rev. Carol