This category brings together any blogs that comment on the relationships that exist among older adults, as well as their relationships with people in younger age groups. Some of these relationships are full, rich and rewarding, while others need effort and prayer. In all cases, relationships keep older adults healthy, spiritually mature and purposed.
I’ve known lots of pastors like you over my life. Your work has always been difficult, but recently it may have become tougher to fulfill your sense of purpose. Maybe you and I can step back here, and remember together what God offers to the world because of your vocation. That calling may be hard to describe, but it’s work that’s vital to fulfilling God’s will right now. You bring God’s wisdomMORE...
For too many months, my anxiety about large-scale problems in the world has blinded me to a reality much closer: People dear to me are quietly carrying significant personal burdens. All this time they’ve been dealing with chronic problems in their families, their health or their work. They’re doing the best they can, but things don’t always get better. Their anguish doesn’t leave much room forMORE...
Just now I was grappling with the task of folding fitted bed sheets neatly—something I try to do when I’m not writing. As a momentary sabbatical from impossibility, let me offer you the encouragement and wisdom of a newsletter specifically focused on the process and reality of elderhood. The resource is called Rich and Charlie Resources, and it arrives on your e-doorstep the first day ofMORE...
I sometimes award myself the imaginary degree, an MA in Obvious. It’s my way of reminding myself how unhelpful it can be to speak or write about matters already well-known, perhaps insulting the intelligence and insights of readers and listeners. This tendency may be a personality trait among those of us who have lived longer. Accumulating experience and expertise over our lifetimes—and with anMORE...
Sometimes vengeance seems appropriate, even righteous. Great crimes against humanity, rampant selfishness, persistent evil intent, shameless dishonesty, callous harming of others—all feel like legitimate reasons for 1comeuppance. The greater the crimes, the louder the calls for retribution. This is an ageless notion. In ancient Greek mythology, these concepts hearken back to TheMORE...
This blog is the final entry in a series exploring the ideals and behaviors of bullies. Today I look at the possibility that I, too, am prone to bullying behaviors. Jesus talked about taking the wooden beam out of one’s eye before noticing and condemning the sawdust speck bothering someone else’s vision. (See Matthew 7:1-5.) This teaching probably applies to the bullying I see in others—and toMORE...
For about twelve years, I’ve visited a resident—let’s call her Gladys—at the same assisted living facility where my mother spent her last years. We used to talk about current events, revived memories, family circumstances and wisdom of all kinds. Now, with Gladys’s dementia working its will, the back-and-forth of a satisfying conversation might seem impossible. That’s not true, thoughMORE...
That’s the phrase I recently used to describe the kindness of a reader, someone whose character matches the traits and calling of so many pastors I have known. It occurs to me that the same description might match you. Some thoughts… At their core, most pastors are kind and caring. Mixed into the various roles they take on—e.g., preacher, counselor, teacher, administrator—are those that transcendMORE...
Easter’s going to be uniquely significant this year. Perhaps that’s especially true for those beloved souls who will find their way back to worship on that Sunday. Sobering global, national or local events will call all of us to consider again what it means to be the people of God in this time and place. It’s likely that Easter worshippers will be especially ready for the Good News that EasterMORE...
Every so often I encounter someone who’s stuck on a story or viewpoint. The phenomenon is called 1perseveration, and we might mark this behavior as slightly problematic in most social settings. The tendency to revisit the same matters unceasingly can be a sign of mild cognitive decline. (One verbal clue: “Have I ever told you about the time when….?”) I’ve been around plenty of worry-proneMORE...
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.