The Spirituality of Aging

For many of us, advancing age is a time of loss: of parents, spouses, siblings, and friends; the loss of physical strength and endurance; sometimes the loss of independence, certainty, or familiar roles. Aging can confront us with limitations we once thought belonged only to other people.

And yet, for many, these same years may bring an unexpected deepening of the inner life. As the distractions and ambitions of youth begin to fade, there is often more room for reflection, contemplation, gratitude, forgiveness, and spiritual awareness. Questions that once seemed distant — meaning, legacy, mortality, transcendence, the nature of the soul — become immediate and real.
At the same time, aging raises difficult spiritual questions:

• How do we face mortality without fear?
• How do we cope with grief and loneliness?
• What does it mean to live meaningfully when our abilities change?
• What wisdom, if any, have the years actually given us?
• How do we become elders rather than simply older?

Rather than seeing aging only as decline, perhaps we can explore whether it may also be an invitation: to simplify, to deepen, to reconcile, to mentor, and ultimately to prepare ourselves spiritually for the final stage of life with greater peace and openness.

Come as you are. Leave a little more alive.

Mystic Friends

The Newtown Square Friends Meetinghouse in Newtown Square, Pa was constructed in 1711. People have been coming here to sit and reflect for more than 300 years.