Pilgrimage into the Last Third of Life: 7 Gateways to Spiritual Growth

by Jane Marie Thibault

Overview

Do you dread growing old?

The Last Third of life, from age 60 on up, doesn't have to be feared. When viewed from a Christian perspective, this season of life can be meaningful, endurable, and even joyful, say authors Jane Thibault and Richard Morgan.

Thibault and Morgan suggest approaching the Last Third as a pilgrimage—a journey full of purpose, ripe with opportunities for spiritual growth.

The authors, ages 65 and 82, dig deeply into the realities of their lives and give you 7 ways to open yourself to God and the abundant life God wants for you. They address 7 gateways to spiritual growth:

• Facing Aging and Dying
• Learning to Live with Limitations
• Doing Inner Work
• Living in and Out of Community
• Praying and Contemplation
• Redeeming Loss and Suffering
• Leaving a Legacy

This collection of scripture-based meditations will inspire you or someone you know to move fearlessly into the Last Third, looking forward to the opportunities this time of life can hold. The book includes reflection questions and can be used by individuals or groups for a 7-week study.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780835811170
Publisher:	The Upper Room
Publication date:	09/04/2012
Pages:	144
Sales rank:	162,013
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Jane Marie Thibault, a retired gerontologist and professor of Family and Geriatric Medicine at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, lives in Louisville, Kentucky. She is the author of 10 Gospel Promises for Later Life and A Deepening Love Affair: The Gift of God in Later Life. Thibault is coauthor (with Richard Morgan) of No Act of Love Is Ever Wasted: The Spirituality of Caring for Persons with Dementia.

Table of Contents

Prayer for Aging 7

Preface: A Word to Our Readers 9

Gateway 1 Facing Aging and Dying

Go on a Pilgrimage 14

Looking Age Straight in the Face 17

120-Blessing or Curse? 19

Affirm Your Age 22

Long Life Is Not Enough 24

Still Flourishing in Old Age 27

Practice Dying 29

Gateway 2 Living with Limitations

Limited But Renewed 32

Don't Get Around Much Anymore 34

Aging's Double Whammy 36

Downsized But Growing 38

Bent But Not Broken 40

Jesus' Promise 42

Why Doesn't God Take Me? 45

Gateway 3 Doing Inner Work

The Work of Forgiving 48

Rummaging for God 50

Envy: A Deadly Sin of Later Life 52

Pride: Another Deadly Sin 55

Afternoon Work 57

Drop the Mask; Get Real! 59

A Hard Thing to Be 62

Gateway 4 Living In and Out of Community

Created for Community 66

The Inner Circle 69

Stability at Last 71

Welcoming Neighbors and Strangers 73

Learning Interdependence: To Receive Is to Give 75

Possessed by Possessions: Owned by Stuff 78

Becoming a Christ-gift 81

Gateway 5 Prayer and Contemplation

Meditate Not Vegetate 86

Silence, Please! 88

Solitary Refinement 90

Divine Reading 92

Accepting Uncertainly 94

Savoring Your Life 97

Corresponding with God 100

Gateway 6 Redeeming Loss and Suffering

Finding the Gifts of Diminishment 104

Lessons from Gethsemane (Part 1) 106

Lessons from Gethsemane (Part 2) 109

Dedicate Pain and Suffering to Help Others 112

Aging: A Natural Monastery? 115

So Many Losses 118

My Friends-They're All Gone 121

Gateway 7 Leaving a Legacy

How Do You Want to Be Remembered? 124

Connecting with Ancestors 126

My Legacy: Faith at the End of Life 128

The Power of Loving-kindness 130

My Legacy: Dedicated Suffering 133

Letter to Grandchildren 136

The Final Gateway 138

Suggested Reading 141

About the Authors 142