In this category are Full of Years blogs that examine how time fills the lives of older persons. Time as a gift and time as a responsibility. Implicit in all entries: This is a good time to be living fully.
When my spouse and I were courting, and had come to the point of being pretty sure we wanted to spend our lives together, we would sometimes imagine what it would be like to be in love at some advanced age in our future. Rocking chairs on the porch was always our go-to image, spring or summer the imagined season and comforting coziness the ambience with which we would enjoy those loving timesMORE...
The older I get, the more the long arm of history seems to touch me. Born in the previous century, I have the sense that I’m supposed to do more than just acknowledge the guiding hands of yesteryear. The longer I live, the more I feel the responsibility to be a steward of the past, helping ensure that current generations don’t live as though there is nothing valuable to be learned fromMORE...
Late in his life, my father would often comment, “Getting old isn’t for sissies.” This was his way of reminding himself and the rest of us that fullness of years isn’t a walk in the park. It was my father’s voice—and witness—that came to mind when I started these blogs. It would be easy to think of fullness-of-years as code language for an older-adult version of the prosperity gospel—as thoughMORE...
Over the years I’ve noticed how some esteemed church leaders gradually lose their edge. However that process begins, it starts to become noticeable as their small mistakes proliferate. A missed word here, a momentary lapse in judgement there—and after awhile it’s apparent that these formerly great trailblazers are heading towards the time when they won’t be very effective any more. When tinyMORE...
The now-classic film, Groundhog Day, poses deep philosophical questions about life. One that still puzzles me—that applies especially to this time in my life—is whether the repetitive cycling of similar days is something good or something not-so-good. To say that another way: Now that I’m older, how should I think about a lifestyle in which each day is nearly a copy of all that precededMORE...
Hanging on the wall above this laptop is my favorite painting depicting Jesus. It’s by Frances Hook. (See the link at the end of this post.) Decades ago, this artist portrayed Jesus with unkempt hair, a hint of dust on his clothing, and the look of a guy who knew how to work with his hands. She painted someone who could stare into your eyes and know what’s going on. This is the Jesus I’ve knownMORE...
Something that’s true about most of us at this time in our lives: We have secrets that almost no one knows about. Even though God’s providential and loving eyes might take in these perhaps-unknown elements of our lives, we may still harbor some ambivalence about revealing things about ourselves that have hitherto remained invisible. Our possible secrets may live in the past: Real orMORE...
I grew up in the maze of freeways called Los Angeles, and so learned the essential survival skill of driving over the posted speed limits. (I’m not suggesting this tactic for residents of other localities, in hindsight noting that this faster-than-righteous driving was a necessary practice that kept me from being run over by those driving much faster!) Now that I live on the outskirts of aMORE...
Two of our family’s most-treasured possessions are family history books. Our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will always know the legacies of my mother and mother-in-law, both strong, determined women who—with the assistance of other family members—created these cherished volumes. If you are considering this possibility, let me encourage you with these few observations: • Begin theMORE...
Although I can’t quite trace its derivation, the idea of having “skin in the game” is one of those colorful colloquialisms that speaks volumes. There’s something elemental and raw in the idea of having so much of an interest in something that you invest your (literal) skin in its success. This expression sometimes describes the kind of commitment that goes beyond intellectual assent. InMORE...
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.