VIEW FROM 80

2012 – ANOTHER YEAR FOR DOOMSDAY CHATTER

Richard Morgan — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:16:56 +0000

It’s happened before, it will happen again, someone predicting the end of the world. The early Christians expected Jesus to return and usher in the kingdom in their life time. Some at Thessalonica even refused to work, and just sat around awaiting Jesus’ return at any moment. I recall the hype about the new milennium approaching in 2000, as if that might signal the end of the world. But its 12 years later and we’re still here. We survived one end-of-the-world prediction that the world would end between May 21 and October, 2011. Now we face the grim news that on December 21, 2012, the Mayan calendar reaches the end of its 5,126 year calendar. Some are even plunging into the countdown using their smart phones to check how many days are left before we get the news, “that’s all folks!” As of today, we have 303 days left if that prediction is correct. What irriates me is the way these doomsayers misuse the Book of Revelation to announce their dire prophecies. These “preachers” shout about hell as “the lake of fire,” and try to predict when the final battle of Armageddon will be fought. Reinhold Niebuhr wrote, “the Book of Revelation has nothing to say about the temperature of hell or the furniture of heaven!” John wrote the book in code to a suffering church, enduring relentless persecution from the Roman Empire. It was intended to comfort, not condemn, to reassure, not to frighten. It presents a God of love who wipes away all tears from our eyes, and reminds its readers in every century that beyond the evil that exists in our world, the Lord God omnipotent reigns! The important thing is to live each day as if it were our last, and be ready whatever comes. As the Psalmist wrote, “So teach us to number our days that we might get a wise heart.” We talked about the Mayan calendar ending on December 21, 2002 at the dinner table in our dining room and our wounderful 101 year old resident, Josie, said, “Really? We’ll just have to stick around and see.”

A DOCTOR’S VIEW OF AGING

Richard Morgan — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 01:03:59 +0000

Strange things often occur in doctor’s waiting rooms. Once I overheard a conversation between an elderly woman and a much younger man. The doctor had kept her waiting for a long time, so the woman kept glancing at her watch.The gentleman said to her ,”Why are you so anxious about time. Your’re retired and have a lot of time.” The woman replied,” Sir, I am 85 years old, so every minute is precious.” In a waiting room in Florida, where many of the patients were retirees, the receptionist told the doctor, “I just can’ t tell those older people their time is up.” My neurologist told me about a new book written by Dr. Marc E. Agronin, “ How We Age: A Doctor’s Journey into the Heart of Growing Old,” which begins by stating that for nearly every doctor, the very first encounter in medical school with an old person is with a corpse as they performed an autopsy. He is now is physician in a nursing home in Miami, that some would dismiss as “God’s waiting room” Most of the people he uses as his models about are residents there. Agronin offers a refreshing, unique look at human aging, referring to it as, “a mystery that requires meaning rather than a problem that requires solution” He decries the age-centric perspective that views old age as a time of debility, disease, dementia and decline. His positive approach to aging is counter to the current slew of books that attempt to turn back the clock and preserve physical youth. Although he realistically describes the inevitable changes that occur with aging, he points to the strengths being old brings. His book brought to mind how Kinglsey describes old age, “So we’ll laugh, and pray and sing, as gilded butterflies and take upon us the mystery of things as if we were God’s spies.” I’m working through Agronin’s s book now, and will probably take it with me to read the next time I wait in a doctor’s office.

FEARS OF OLDER PEOPLE

Richard Morgan — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:29:14 +0000

I’m reading a new book on Aging from a Zen Buddhist priest, Lewis Richmond. Aging as a Spiritual Practice offers some good insight into the art of aging. This book includes a helpful chapter on “What Buddhism Teaches” (about Aging). Another chapter, Conquering the Five Fears”describe five fears from the ancient Buddhist tradition: fear of death, fear of illness, fear of losing one’s mind, fear of loss of livelihood and fear of public speaking. Except for the last, these five fears seem to describe the kinds of a anxiety that aging brings. I can easily relate to all of these fears:Fear of Losing One’s Mind, is real. There are times when I can’t remember a name or word. I used to pride myself on my sharp memory. I could easily recite the names of mostly every player on major league teams. But no more. I have to resort to memonic tricks to remember names and places. I believe every older person fears loss of memory. We joke about a “senior” or “milennial” moment, but a haunting fear of Alzheimer’s disease lurks in the shadows. I am fortunate not besieged by fear of loss of income, and careful retirement planning has been the answer…. so far! I am not afraid of public speaking and still do occasional supply. My fear is that I will fall down getting in and out of the pulpit! So I breathe a silent prayer as I enter a pulpit, “Now unto him who is able to keep you from falling…..” The words of Franklin Delano Roosevelt from his March 4, 1933 inaugural address, still ring true. ” The only thing we have to fear is fear itslf.’ I do recommend this helpful book for ways to find a healthy, meaningful aging. and that’s my view from eighty for today.

FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS

Richard Morgan — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:44:11 +0000

I guess I’m different, but I prefer going to the funeral service when someone died, rather than seeing them “laid out” in a funeral home. It’s hard for some people to realize the finality of death, when cosmetics tries to masquerade death. I went to a funeral mass today for a friend who was 94 yearsold when he died. I followed the funeral procession to the church. We made our way through the narrow streets of row after row of company houses in this former coal town, where people “sold their souls to the company store.”As we approached the church, the bell repeatedly tolled in a mournful manner. I love the dignity of the Catholic funeral Mass, and the solemnity which leads to meditation. In my long life of ministry, I led hundreds of funerals.Now, I have become a professional mourner. As I sat in the sanctuary awaiting the Mass, my mind went back to one memorable funeral experience. The deceased woman’s final wish was to be taken across the Blue Ridge Parkway to a small countrty church, buried in the hills. I rode with the funeral director and he lost his way. Finally I spied a state policeman who gave us an escort to the church.We arrived one hour late! When he saw the hearse arriving, the old preacher stood and said in a loud voice, “Now that the corpse has arrived, everyone pass out the bier!” I was afraid one of the pall bearers got the wrong message, as he went back to his car to look for beer. . The preacher had made a mistake and should have said, “Everyone pass around the bier”. A heavy snow then fell as we took the body up a steep hill for final burial. I was relieved when this experience came to an end. I will always remember the tolling of the bell … and John Donne’s words, “Ask not for whom the bell tolls. it tolls for thee.” Each day is a gift at my age!

Dear Blog Reade…

Richard Morgan — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:41:12 +0000

Dear Blog Readers: The reasons for this hiccup in my blogs are (1) Im ‘ having a deuce of a time getting on my blog through WordPress. Since they cannot be reached by phone, I am emeshed in the electronic world trying to figure this out. (2) I have hit a writing block with not much to say. There is a vast difference between having to write something and having something to write! But I will be writing anther blog soon, so stay tuned. “To my virtues be very blind; to my vices be very kind.”

A RUMBLING COMING

Richard Morgan — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:44:48 +0000

Off in the distance one can hear the rumbling coming, it is the retirement of the Baby Boomers, that generation born between 1946 and 1963. The exodus had begun and will continue as 79 million Boomers will cross the gray line. So, I was amused by Joel Stein’s editiorial in Time magazine, “I Hope I Due Before I Have to Live with Old People.” He wasn’t talking about my generation, but the coming wave of retirees in the Boomer generation. There’s no question that these adults will demand more and those who just turned 65 and moving into retirement community an driving the Greatest Generation crazy. Among other major changes the Boomers bring to Aging, there are a few. (1) They want to age in place and stay put in their homes. This means making their present home more handicapped accessible or moving to condos. (2) The affluent Boomers may move to retirement communities, but they will demand swimming pools, golf courses, and mega access to Internet. Present CCRC will not appeal to this generation. (3) Boomers will work longer as the “age” for being old becomes 72. (4) Due to the cost of healthcare and uncertainty of social security, Boomers in the Middle Class will find themselves near or at the poverty level. I live with older people in a community where the average age is 90. With some exceptions I do not find these people cranky and confused. Indeed, there is a wealth of knowledge, garnered from experience that make these old people society’s treasures. So, in a way I can endorse Mr.Stein’s caption. I I hope I do die before this new generation takes hold.

BITTER OR BETTER

Richard Morgan — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:33:03 +0000

Life is always giving us challenges. Even in your later years, when the stress of work ends, and you have reasonable freedom to be who you are, and not adopt roles forced upon you, every day brings trials and difficulties. As we go through these challenges, they can make us better or bitter; they can be break downs or break throughs. I have no major complaints about my life. I have some limitations that handicap me, like not driving, or struggling with walking, due to spinal stensosis or other physical issues. But all I have to do it walk out the door, saunter down the halls, fight my way through endless walkers and frail old people to realize I am blessed. Today as we drove past a cemetery on a hill, I thought of Martha Ann Brown, who is buried there. She lost a leg, but never got bitter or resentful, but hoed to the end of the row with dignity and courage She reminds me of a story told by Naomi Remen. It has always helped me to avoid self-pity and whining. A man lost his leg to bone cancer, and for two years he worked through his anger and despair by painting His physician suggested he draw a picture of his body. He drew a picture of a vase, and running through the vase was a deep, black crack. He had taken a black crayon and splashed it all over the vase. Several years later he said to his physician, “The picture of the vase is not finished.” He picked up a yellow crayon and putting his finger on the crack, he said, “You see here – where it is broken- is where the light comes through.” And with the yellow crayon he drew light streaming through the crack in the vase. As we age, the cracks begin to show. Do they make us bitter or better? Do they cause us to break down or are they places of break through when the light shines through?

SUFFICIENT FOR THE DAY

Richard Morgan — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 15:55:48 +0000

Being older has its blessings, not the least of which is not worrying about the future. Since the sands of time are running out at my age, I just take one day at a time. In times past I was an inveterate worrier. If there is any validity to the gene bank, I must have inherited a major deposit of anxiety genes from my mother. We both would worry when we had nothing to worry about. I had to learn that worry is like sitting in a rocking chair, it gives us something to do, but gets us nowhere. The world’s greatest teacher gave us words to live by. “Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?” and “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring troubles of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” I realized the impact of those words by what happened in one day. A good friend and former physician was found dead in his apartment. Deaths like that send shock waves throughout the whole community. The same day we learned that a good friend had been diagnosed with leukemia and started the ordeal of chemotherapy. We wrote him and reminded him how he recovered from a serious accident some years ago. His reply was sobering, “It was 13 years ago I recovered from that accident; I pray I will be given 13 more years.” That gives you a touch of reality! Finally, we had a sudden change in our community; our campus director left us, and a new director named. Such changes always send a ripple effect of uncertainty throughout the community. So, that’s enough trouble for one day. Anxiety about the unknown future will always haunt us. But, I have learned to take a day at time, and trust the ancient words of wisdom,“As your days so will be your strength.”

‘SEEING OR STEREOTYPING’

Richard Morgan — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 22:17:46 +0000

The Danish pphilosopher and theologian,Soren Kierkegaard told of the day a circus came to his hometown when he was a little boy. The circus was set up on the outskirts of the community. About 45 minutes before the start of the big show on the evening of the first night, a fire broke out in the main tent. The only one who was fully dressed was the clown. He ran into the town yelling, “Fire, fire!” But all the people who saw him thought it was just a circus gimic, the antics of a clown trying to drum up the biggest possible crowd for opening night.It was only when they saw the smoke on the horizon that they realized that he wasn’t'a clown at all. but a human being bearing a message. These people didn’t take him seriously because in their minds they perceived clowns in only one manner. It’s called stereotyping. We humans do that all the time, size up other people based on their family lineage, the way they talk, their political stance, or the color of their skin. I will never forget a moment in the 1960s when racial intolerance was rampant in the south. I attended a seminar on Telling Your Story. Among others in the group was a burley white man, and a slim black girl. You could sense that the man had let his racism judge the girl. He moved away from her with folded arms and ignored her with an icy stare of hostility. The girl told her story how she was simply walking down the streets of Columbia, SC when cruel men threw garbage on her. The white man gasped, “You mean they did that to you and you never did anything wrong?” You could see walls of hatred crumbling down, as he saw the girl in a new light, as a human being who had been wronged. There are times in this retirement community when I avoid being with some people who are obnoxious or whose political views are far from mine. Yet, I need to work on myself to realize that these are persons made in the image of God, and not stereotype them, but “see” them. “Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart.”

IT TAKES TIME

Richard Morgan — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 15:21:32 +0000

If I could choose another career, it would be that of a movie critic, with special focus on religious insights in films. The recent film, We Bought a Zoo is more than a movie wih beautiful animals. It has a message for all who grieve loved ones. Benjamin Mee has not worked through the sudden death of his wife, so he seeks to start a new life with his two children by buying a zoo. His 14 year old son, Dylan, is still angry at the death of his mother, and draws displays of stark horror and is almost expelled from school. He is drawn to 13 year old girl named Lily, but can’t relate to her and hurts her feelings. Apparently he can’t relate to anyone because he fears he will lose them. That reminds me of a young man who came for counseling. As of boy of ten his father had died and he found it difficult to rely on others, believing they would either abandon him or die. He would always get out of relationships fast, fearing they would leave him and make him relive the pain he remembered. Working through his emotions enabled him to see that he still felt anger that his father had left him so early in life. I helped him realize his feelings, stayed with him, and after time he felt free to enter into personal relationships. When Dylan and his father express their feelings, and Dylan stops blaming himself for his mother’s death, he becomes reconciled to his father and expresses his feelings to Lily and can resume the relationship. Time may help with grief over loss of a loved one, but it does not heal the pain. Scars remain, and it takes time and work to move on in life and realize every ending has a new beginning.