Sunday's Adult Forum, referenced in yesterday's blog, and ably led by Tom & Becky von Fisher, focused on helping us think about the last portion of our life, with specific attention to housing; where and how might we live in our old age. Their underlying premise is that "There is seldom a satisfactory outcome when new living arrangements become a requirement rather than a choice."
Another quote they shared resonated with me: "To ripen into an elder, into being that is more than simply elderly and more than only self, is a deliberate, thoughtful, sustained choice that arises from the intention to see things as they are." Kathleen Dowling Sing, The Grace In Aging.
Seeing things as they are, is my goal. How well I do that is perhaps best judged by others. But, I strive for honesty...honesty of perception, which is not easy but critical to the examined life and, as we all know, '"the unexamined life is not worth living."
Then Garrison Keillor came with this reminder of mortality...something about which we must needs be honest.
"It turned cold and gray
in Minnesota last week and snow fell, which some people talk about as being
depressing, but it’s not, it’s reassuring. The talk is ritual complaint, an
attempt by people living comfy lives to acquire the dignity of suffering.
Genuine suffering is on its way sooner than you think. One day we’ll be hit by
a winter heat wave like the one that melted half of Greenland and then our real
troubles will begin. One day I’ll step off a curb and my legs will buckle and
strangers will call 911 and I’ll be hauled unconscious to a crowded ER and when
I awake, I won’t be able to remember the words to “Abide with me, fast falls
the eventide” or “Minnesota, hats off to thee.” It’s out there, waiting to
happen. Snow is nothing."
Garrison Keillor.
Takk for alt,
Al
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