character/moral development

inner work is essential to developing our full humanity. so we come to the fifth of the 10Cs…character. we might see this ‘C’ along with moral development and integrity.

this inner work is particularly important in our elderhood. we have the opportunity to acknowledge our fallibility, our imperfection and mistakes… the times we acted without integrity, outside our moral code of right and wrong. we can make amends for the times we acted unjustly or without compassion.

all of this is a vital part of the elders’ process of life review. this process liberates us from the guilt and pressure and shame of some of our words and actions. with the inner work done, we can open our hearts to the present moment.

buckminster fuller is said to have valued “the power of personal integrity as a force in the world, available to each of us, that transcends our ‘position’ in life, our particular abilities and skills, and the specific circumstances in which we find ourselves.”  only such a force was   “capable of steering humanity towards the realisation of a world that truly works for everybody.”

a grounding in our personal integrity, in our moral values, allows us to take part in community, being a force for compassion and a force for shifting the paradigm of ageing. integrity, in addition, denotes soundness, the quality or state of being complete, undivided. our integrity guides us to self-respect and self-care. from this place we can care for others.

our elder wisdom, and the wisdom of the ancestors, can exemplify for those who follow us, the lessons of history as we solve today's challenges. it is the soundness of our wisdom, the integrity of our being, that opens a life of joy, and the choice to love and live as complete humans.

critical thinking

in this first of the “ten Cs” of being human we are exploring the gift of critical thinking/critical consciousness. to think and to be in this way we use all of our faculties and senses to discern truth and untruth. we do this to know ourselves, to know our true nature and what our purpose is. this kind of mindfulness engages our creative energy as well as our analytical faculty.

anika huizinga at unspalsh

to gain access to this inner knowledge/sense we might examine critically all the beliefs we have learned, all that we have been conditioned to believe by our culture. the next step is to go inside and ask whether they are applicable and appropriate to our life and times.
in our elderhood we have the opportunity to think even more critically about the world around us. we can look at the ideas, concepts, perceptions of our past and hold them to the light of today.

recently, the black lives matter movement has inspired many of us to examine our culture’s systemic and systematic oppression of people of colour.

vince fleming at unsplash

some years ago the lesbian and gay community brought to the public consciousness the similar oppression within their community. greta thunberg, in her one-woman strike for the climate, caused us to think very differently about our home, planet earth.

we might set aside times of critical thinking to examine our personal history. what part of the stories we tell ourselves is true and what is untrue? with the discerning wisdom of years of life experience, we can look, hopefully with compassion, as events that might have fallen, unexamined, through the cracks of our hearts and minds.

what, upon that examination and contemplation, might we now wish to change? how can we bring our elder consciousness into the world? how can we, the elders of our community (whatever that might be), open the doors to our own humanity and foster the innate humanity in others?

to be human

to begin again, as we start the new year, might inspire us to look at what it means to be human…what it means to be a human elder, ageing with awareness, purpose and curiosity.

matthew fox, is a spiritual theologian, an Episcopal priest and an activist for gender justice and eco-justice, has asked the question about the meaning of being human for decades. in the next 10 blog posts we will take a journey through what he calls “the 10 Cs”.

1. critical thinking/consciousness

2. cosmology/ecology
3. courage
4. chaos
5. character/moral development
6. contemplation

7. creativity
8. compassion/justice
9. community
10. ceremony/ritual

simply reading this list can be daunting. there is no doubt that, we, as elders, can certainly rise to the challenge. these topics call us to go deep within and to examine our own humanity. at a time when greed, fear, misinformation and even despair might overwhelm us, taking a deep breath together, to dive down into our sacred self can be a welcome relief.

we might need relief from the 24/7 newsfeed, the continual threat to truth, the depletion of the planet and the depletion of our inner resources that the COVID-19 pandemic is making.

we might need a time to drink deep from the well of our connection to that which is boundless in order to replenish. we might need a time of inspiration and profound contemplation to balance the onslaught of this surreal time.

and we might need to remind ourselves of our innate humanity and what that means in the time of elderhood.

retreat

i'm living into a three day retreat and taking time to consider deeply into "being in the presence of love".

retreat...a gift to and from the elders.

i will join you again in this space next week.

a closing...an opening

the year is drawing to a close in the annual cycle of the earth’s journey around the sun.

soon the days will lengthen noticeably instead of by the current few minutes each day. for now though, we are still in the fertile, dark time…a time of introspection, contemplation, quiet gestation. and we are still in the midst of a global pandemic that has created unimaginable suffering worldwide. there is much to reflect on, much to consider.

earlier this month, the guardian published an article about “life 2.0”. it was written by a man who quite nearly died of cardiac arrest. a journalist, he told his story vividly and with a great deal of self-compassion. there are deep lessons for all of us as elders in his words.

“How do I make the most of Life 2.0?"

"How do I repay society? I have spent a lot of time reflecting on these questions and reviewing my past. At first, this was a mental exercise, then a way to pass the time. In the hospital ward, we were not allowed visitors because of Covid restrictions so on each of the five days, I revisited a different decade of my past, dwelling at length on close relationships, wondrous journeys and joyful moments. Five months on, I still get great pleasure from doing this.”

this process of life review is one of the sacred tasks of the elder. encountering again those significant moments, both the beneficial and the painful, allows us to re-frame and learn from them. it also allows us the time to forgive ourselves and others as we see and hear those experiences in our memories’ vision and hearing.

the author, jonathan watts, also tells us, “I am also trying to live more in the present. It’s a cliche, but for weeks after discharge I marvelled at the simplest things – rainfall, sparrows, insects, cups,

photograph by tom crew at unsplash

beans, books, chats with family and friends. I swore I would never again waste precious time on stuff I didn’t completely cherish.”

this too becomes an elder’s practice…the spiritual practice of being present to the small things that create a rich life. this can be the foundation of “life 2.0”. though watts admits these commitments are slipping, the re-commitment is alway possible.

as the great poet, rumi, tells us “…even if you have broken your vows a thousand times. come, yet again , come , come.” we can always begin again to notice, to be aware in the present and to live life fully.

to read the entire article: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/28/cardiac-arrest-dying

the dark turning toward the light

“Even as we can feel more physically separated from each other, and just when we can feel even more frail and small in the face of all the worldwide troubles we face, there may be no better time to light a candle, make a prayer, find a song to sing in the midst of the darkness, in order to help bring the light back.

as we move toward the light of the year let us elders hear the words of michael meade, mythologist and author. elders have seen many turnings...days into months, months into years, years into decades. let us bring the wisdom of those turnings to the challenge we live with now and allow the light within to emerge and shine.

warm solstice wishes....

“Even as we can feel more physically separated from each other, and just when we can feel even more frail and small in the face of all the worldwide troubles we face, there may be no better time to light a candle, make a prayer, find a song to sing in the midst of the darkness, in order to help bring the light back.

In facing the darkness together in a spiritual sense and in the ancient way, we can also, find again, and realign with, the divine spark of life we each carry. For the soul has its own inner light and each soul is secretly connected to the song of the earth, to the Soul of the World, and to the indelible spark of life and light that can only be found in the darkest hours and the darkest times.”