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!
Okay, complete the following axiom: “If life gives you lemons, ……! Schooled in the intricate arcania of maxims, most folks would write something on the order of “make lemonade,” right? That seems fair enough—we want to be positive about the bad breaks or sour moments in our life’s journey, so lemonade-making seems like the positive, asset-based thing to do with an accumulation of lemonsMORE...
As I cruise the highways and byways of American senior adult life, I often come upon folks whose spirituality can be described as “outlier.” Re-affirmed by *Malcom Gladwell, the term may also illustrate an important feature of older-adult spirituality: Individuals who don’t always feel connected to the usual manifestations of Christianity. Not all of us consider ourselves outliers, ofMORE...
Awhile back, I mused about enjoyable memories that can be a comfortable way to spend time. Today I want to expand the idea of reveries to include those that freeze the present-tense for consideration—another enjoyable kind of thought. I live a pace of life that’s slower than in my earlier days. Sometimes there are longer blocks of time when I have been able to “just sit and think.” More thanMORE...
There must surely come the time when my life’s high point will have been reached. It’s hard to pin down the exact moment or description of when that will occur, but right now it feels honest to admit that I am no longer at my peak. Some after-apex thoughts follow…. It’s also truthful to acknowledge gratefully the years when much of my life felt like an ascending path, reaching towards increasedMORE...
Today’s entry continues in the tradition of Latinate aphorisms for daily life—e.g., * Soli Deo gloria, Carpe diem or Ubi est mea anaticula cumminosa? These time-honored insights may far outweigh the value of this blog’s new maxim: Perguado religuias! You be the judge…. As the years of my life add up and the tidbits of foods in our refrigerator gather together to form inviting aggregations, I amMORE...
Are you certain that someone named *Bob Sitze actually sent this message to you? If this seems like an odd question, read on…. My digital identity has been compromised several times. Phony phone calls, probings of this blog site; a bogus claim—in my name—for unemployment insurance; an e-mail yesterday informing me that this device has been compromised and that I can keep embarrassing informationMORE...
I don’t feel that way right now, but one of these days I could… Feel guilty, sad or remorseful for somehow not living up to your expectations or hopes. Not meeting my obligations or fulfilling my promises to you. Again, not something that comes up that often, but I expect that it will eventually happen. To be sure, others can disappoint me, but that seems just to be a part of life. NoneMORE...
Looking for things to gross me out—a questionable luxury of retired guy-ness—I recently came upon a story prepping readers for news about the annual contest sponsored by Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs. Because the idea of “competitive eating”—the term favored by *Major League Eating (MLE)—struck me as just bit more than odd, I kept reading. What I found seemed to be emblematic about any of us who haveMORE...
That’s what you’ll read here today, and almost every other time one of these entries comes your way. About 300 words—the length in feet of a football field—that take about two minutes to read—the amount of time it takes to run that far. (Mixing metaphors is still an enjoyable part of my writing.) Why that length? I don’t want to be one of the chatterati, a class of writers or talkers who alwaysMORE...
There’s a lot of “deserving” talk going around these days. Apparently many of us feel that we are owed something for all the troubles we’ve encountered over the past months. That past injustices make us primary candidates for recompense. Or perhaps we even think that our exemplary lives make us worthy for other rewards. “Not so,” says Martin Luther. In his Small Catechism, he frames the meaningMORE...
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.