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    10 Gospel Promises for Later Life
    10 Gospel Promises for Later Life
    10 Gospel Promises for Later Life
    Ebook115 pages1 hour

    10 Gospel Promises for Later Life

    By Jane Marie Thibault

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    About this ebook

    Is there any good news in the "Good News" for older adults?

    We're living longer. In fact, people 85 and older are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population. Life expectancy is increasing in all developed countries in the world.

    With the gift of longer life, though, comes pain. The worst physical ailments and frailties may seem inconsequential when compared to the feelings of emotional and spiritual abandonment that many elders report today:

    • "I can't relate to Jesus' message any longer. The gospel calls for action. I can't do what Christ wants me to do, and I feel guilty."
    • "The Old Testament comforts me more than the New Testament. These writings relate to my situation more since I'm old, flat on my back, and utterly dependent on others."
    • "The church has no place for old people."
    • "I feel that I have outgrown Jesus —he's for beginners in the spiritual life."

    Out of Thibault's reflection on the relevance of the gospel to later life comes hope.

    "While secular society offers long-term care insurance, Jesus offers the promise of abundant life in the here and now as well in heaven," Thibault says.

    Each chapter of 10 Gospel Promises for Later Life addresses a fear about aging and faith and gives an example of its negative effect on a person's daily life. Next you'll find a response, the promise of the gospel, the assurance of God's constant love that offers hope in all circumstances.

    Identify your own fears (or the fears of a loved one) about aging, and learn from Thibault's sensitive study how to make the most of God's gift of longer life.

    Questions for personal reflection or group discussion are included at the end of each chapter, making it an ideal book for individuals or classes.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherUpper Room Books
    Release dateOct 1, 2016
    ISBN9780835816427
    10 Gospel Promises for Later Life
    Author

    Jane Marie Thibault

    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.

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      Book preview

      10 Gospel Promises for Later Life - Jane Marie Thibault

      INTRODUCTION

      AN OLD JEWISH birthday blessing, referring to Moses’ age at his death, states, May you live to be 120! If someone said to you on your next birthday, May you live to be 120!, how would you respond? Would you consider this a birthday blessing or a birthday curse? Would you accept the gift of 120 years with joy and gratitude, or would you respond according to your circumstances? I’ve asked this question at every workshop and retreat I have led for the past twenty years. Most of the participants usually reply, It depends. When pressed, they proceed to state all the conditions under which they would not want to live another 120 years. (Having to use Depends is one of them!)

      I don’t ask this question jokingly. In the past fifteen years scientists have discovered that the natural human life span is approximately 120 years; some researchers believe it is even longer than that. For the first time in the history of humankind many of us may have the opportunity to live that long. So much has happened in the past century, especially in the fields of technology and medicine. In 1900 the average American life expectancy was forty-seven years; today it is about eighty years. Some anthropologists estimate that in the year 1 CE the average life expectancy was about twenty-two. In the course of nineteen centuries only twenty-five years were added to the number of years people could expect to live.

      Since 1900, however, we have gained an additional thirty-three years. People eighty-five and older are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population, and it is no longer rare for someone to achieve centenarian status. This phenomenon in life expectancy is growing in all developed countries. Thus we can reasonably expect that we will soon accept the gift of 120 years. Is this good or bad news for you?

      If the thought of living to be 120 is not entirely good news for you, why isn’t it? What do you dislike or fear most about growing older? What is your worst-case scenario? How does your relationship with God comfort you when fears invade your mind and soul? How does being a Christian make your experience of aging any different from aging in secular society? That last question leads me to ask, Is there any good news in the Good News for those facing the challenges of later life?

      I have always assumed that Jesus’ teaching guides our experience at all stages of life. However, now that I have worked with older adults as a clinical gerontologist for nearly thirty years and consider myself an older person, I believe the questions are valid and to be taken seriously. If Jesus’ teaching doesn’t have meaning for us, if it doesn’t shape all the stages of our lives, is it really good news? But if the gospel truly is relevant to later life, what good news does it bring?

      The question of the gospel’s meaningful relationship to later life confronted me unexpectedly as I spoke to a friend who pastors a church blessed with many older adults. We had been guest lecturers in the aging class of a local seminary and were catching up on each other’s lives. Suddenly my friend paused, looked at me from a place of deep thought, and said, I want to ask you a question that may sound strange.

      Intrigued, I said, What is it?

      He replied, What are older adults you know saying about Christ?

      What do you mean? I queried, unsure of his implication.

      Well, I visit our homebound elders often. Lately a number of them have mentioned the difficulty they’re having relating the message of the Gospels to this time in their lives. Are you hearing anything like that?

      I admitted that I had not, but neither had I specifically asked people about their experiences in relation to the Gospels. What are they saying? I inquired, now curious.

      My pastor friend felt uncomfortable and hesitant. Well, I don’t know if these folks represent elders in general or just my congregation, but I find their comments very disturbing to me as a minister.

      So, what exactly are they saying to you? I was very curious now.

      "I’m encountering older adults who make remarks like these:

      •   ‘I can’t relate to Jesus’ message any longer. The gospel calls for actions that only younger people can accomplish, like feeding the poor and visiting the sick. Now I’m the one who is sick. I can’t do what Christ wants me to do, and I feel guilty.’

      •   ‘Jesus knew nothing about aging—he died a young man!’

      •   ‘Even though the Crucifixion must have been terribly painful, it was over in a few hours. I’ve been in excruciating pain with rheumatoid arthritis and shingles for ten years, with no end in sight!’

      •   ‘The Old Testament comforts me more than the New Testament does, now that I am old. The Psalms, Lamentations, and stories of people like Abraham and Sarah relate to my situation more than the stories in the Gospels do.’

      •   ‘The church has no place for old people; it’s only interested in the young. A young church is the only good church. Pastors don’t care what we’ve done in the past, and they don’t give us anything important to do now that we are old.’

      •   ‘I feel that I have outgrown Jesus—he’s for beginners in the spiritual life.’

      •   ‘Jesus’ message just doesn’t speak to where I am now—flat on my back, dependent on family and nursing home care.’

      •   ‘We’re taught that it’s better to give than to receive. I have nothing to give—all I do is receive, and I feel guilty about that.’"

      Only an extremely caring and sensitive pastor could elicit such trust that members of his congregation felt free enough to express their deepest doubts about the religion they’d practiced all their lives. At this point he was wondering what he had done wrong. Had he misrepresented Christ’s message for them? Intrigued and concerned, I told him that I would open my ears and make inquiries of people I encountered and then share my findings.

      Surprisingly, when I broached the subject of the gospel’s relevance to later life, I heard similar comments from older people from many denominations. Most of the people who spoke with me—particularly the cradle Christians—expressed criticism of their lifelong faith guardedly. They didn’t think they had abandoned their faith; they had simply adopted a different focus. For years their face had been turned to Christ; now it was turned to the elders of Christianity’s foundation, the people they encountered in the Hebrew Bible. They saw themselves as going back to their roots, just as many of them had taken up a study of their families’ genealogy.

      I became deeply engrossed in what I was hearing and began to ask myself, Just what is the good news in the Good News for older adults—is there any? Is the gospel meant for youth, young adults, and middle-aged people only? Is it possible for a person to outgrow Christ? Do Jesus’ teachings speak to major issues in the lives of older adults, particularly the issues of loss, frailty, and dependency? Does the church really prefer young people? Is the best church one filled with young families with children? Does elders’ perception that Christ is no longer relevant to their lives have implications for the future of Christianity as we know it? How could I respond to these questions?

      After much thought and prayer I decided to compile a list of the ten greatest challenges that aging presents and the life disappointments, distress, and/ or fears that accompany these challenges. The following list is derived not so much from formal research but as a result of hundreds of conversations I’ve had over the past thirty years with elders I’ve counseled. Because I’m also growing older, I included my own fears. Which ones do you share?

      FEAR #1:     I am afraid of God. My parents didn’t love me, and I can’t relate to a God who loves me personally.

      FEAR #2:     I’m afraid of not being needed; of having nothing left to give to others, family, the church and community.

      FEAR #3:     I am afraid of having to ask friends and strangers for help.

      FEAR #4:     I’m afraid of being sick, frail, and dependent.

      FEAR #5:     I am afraid that all I love and treasure will be taken from me (leaving me with nothing but a Medicaid bed in a nursing home—if that!)

      FEAR #6:     I am afraid of God’s punishment because I have done things for

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