Full of Years

If you value people who are older—and also your own aging—these entries will help you rejoice in the fullness of this stage of life: its gritty realities, secret joys, hidden spirituality and cherished moments—reasons to be grateful that old age is always a gift from God!

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Dealing with dread, Part II

(When I profiled Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Anxiety by Britt Wray, I noted what I thought might be an empty spot: The foundational nature of spiritual matters, perhaps best perceived and promoted in congregations. Today some continuing thoughts about those possibilities.) My premise here: Our congregations are communities (of belief and practice) that can deal wiselyMORE...

Dealing with dread Part I

(Awhile back, I profiled Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Anxiety  by Britt Wray. The book accumulates concepts that can be helpful in grasping the nature of climate anxiety, as well as our reactions to it. These few ideas caught my interest…) Narrative foreclosure Psychologist Ernst Bohlmeijer and colleagues (Netherlands’ University of Twente) coined this term to refer toMORE...

Crossing over into daft?

Some of us oldsters use language patterns that can be strange. We sometimes communicate with a variety of verbal styles, including those that are arcane, lighthearted or metaphor-rich. The possible difficulty, though: Those ways of speaking and writing can also be perceived as signals that we’re having trouble finding our verbal marbles. That we’ve gone daft. Some listeners believe that onlyMORE...

Attractive communities

(Today’s entry is NOT about your nearby senior citizen lifestyle complex, or about Del Webb properties anywhere in the world. Instead, I’ve been thinking about how so many congregations are truly attractive.) Over the years I’ve noticed that some congregations don’t think of themselves as attractive anymore. That saddens me, because that kind of thinking can become as self-predictive as it may beMORE...

Denying ourselves and carrying our crosses

My climate anxiety peaks periodically. When that happens, Luke 9:23b (KJV) pops into my memory—“Deny yourself and take up your cross”—as one possible part of the solution to global warming. I wonder if a society-wide ascetic mindset—although not easily engaged—might tamp down the factors that are causing our planet’s ecosystems to unravel. That theology feels hard to put into practice. If I’mMORE...

My own (most grevious) fault

  One of Lent’s compelling narratives comes in the ritual of Confession. Its verbiage is striking: “Our fault, our own fault, our own most grievous fault.” These words suggest something more than garden-variety sinfulness or the “mortal sins” that Roman Catholics name as the most serious. Not only do we own our unrighteousness, but also openly admit its severe consequences: In a word: It’sMORE...

Taken for granted

  The usual/normal line of reasoning about “taking something/someone for granted”: “Don’t ignore your blessings because they’re familiar, close or constant.” This life-axiom makes sense, and its lesson is clear. Another possible meaning pops into focus, though: Perhaps I SHOULD take people (or things) for granted? Hear me out…. Grants are undeserved kindnesses or gifts. Given or receivedMORE...

Fulminating

It’s Odd Old Words Day here at the sprawling FullofYears campus, and today’s entry is fulminate. (Please curb your vocabulary-loving enthusiasm until you decide whether to become a full-fledged fulminator!) This Latinate expression—from a root loosely arranged around “hurling lightning”—can add rhetorical flourish to ordinary words that describe expressed anger or condemnation—e.g., denounceMORE...

Book Review: Generation Dread

(Every so often I read something that’s impossible to summarize in a 300-word blog like this. Today’s entry solves that dilemma—sortof—by offering you my recommendation about a book that might be helpful (and hopeful) for your possible worries about global warming. I’m working my way through the final pages of a book that attracted me while I was roaming our library’s New Books shelf. The titleMORE...

Ashes to ashes

Increasing portions of the world’s population are today living in ash-infused rubble. Forest fires, wars and natural calamities have consumed their homes, their possessions, their occupations and their health. The ashes remind them how futile life may be—how long it will be for the debris to be removed and hopeful living to re-emerge. “Living in the ashes” might describe how people anywhere—butMORE...

Bob Sitze

BOB SITZE has filled the many years of his lifework in diverse settings around the United States. His calling has included careers as a teacher/principal, church musician, writer/author, denominational executive staff member and meat worker. Bob lives in Wheaton, IL.

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