Learning About:
Spirituality and Health
Ellen B. Ryan and Kathleen Banchoff
Introduction
Spirituality can be defined as the quest for wholeness and holiness:
Wholeness -- connecting with one’s self, with others, with nature, and with God (or the universal good);
Holiness -- maintaining a sense of awe for the sacred and seeking to be and do good.
Spiritual growth is possible at any stage of life and is a lifelong developmental task.
Spiritual well-being is an important part of one’s overall health. A sense of purpose and meaning can be central to emotional health and to coping with chronic illness, and even to how quickly one recovers from acute illness.
Overview
Spirituality in later life involves growth within one’s self and also for others.
Words from the Sages - Spiritual Self
Words from the Sages - Spiritual for Others
Poems about Spiritual Aging
"To know how to grow old is the master work of wisdom,And one of the most difficult chapters in the great art of living." - Henri Frederic
"Character is refined the laboratory of aging." - James Hillman
"To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly." - Henri Bergson
"Ultimately, though, the enterprise of conscious aging is about developing and maintaining integrity. This journey involves enlightening the mind, not tricking it into thinking there are shortcuts to becoming enlightened. It involves developing spiritual resources to adapt to aging, not to deny it."
- Robert Atchley
"The evening of a well-spent life brings its lamps with it."
- Joseph Joubert
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." - Harold Thurman Whitman
"Older people take time to contemplate their life journey, harvest the wisdom of their years, and transmit a legacy to future generations" - Rabbi Zalman Schacter-Shalomi
"Aging is a time with special opportunities for forgiveness and spiritual intimacy. This is a time we can act as guide, mentor, and agent of healing and reconciliation on behalf of the planet, nation, tribe, clan, and family." - Rabbi Zalman Schacter-Shalomi
Whatever is Foreseen in Joy, Wendell Berry
Thoughts on Growing Older with Meaning, James E. Miller
To be an Older Adult, Ione Grover
Layers, Stanley Kunitz