Category Archives: Spirit

Spiritual and Emotional Maturity: Interview

Posted on September 30, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

I previously posted the first part of a conversation with Lisa C., a mental health professional who recently took a new position as a clinical services director at a psychiatric hospital.  The position was quite different from what she had been … Continue reading →

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Deep Time

Posted on August 15, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

Do we experience time differently when we are elderly?  We all sense time passing more quickly as we age, but in what other ways is time different?  Richard Rohr, in his book Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of … Continue reading →

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Spirituality for Life’s Second Half

Posted on July 19, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

A book that I’ve been reflecting on since reading it a few months ago is  Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life by Richard Rohr.  We humans think about and experience spiritual realities differently as we mature, and Rohr offers a valuable perspective … Continue reading →

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Interview: Pastoral Care for Older Adults

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

Because of their health problems and limited mobility, my parents haven’t been able to attend their church for several years.  I have been impressed by how effectively the church—LaGrave Avenue Christian Reformed Church, in Grand Rapids, Michigan—has provided pastoral care … Continue reading →

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Could You Be Happy With ALS?

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

Nancy Perry Graham of AARP wrote a few months ago about sustaining happiness in middle and late adulthood.  She asked three middle-aged or elderly friends who were clearly happy with life what each though was responsible for their positive mood.  As she … Continue reading →

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“Wish I’d Had the Courage to Live a Life True to Myself”

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

Bronnie Ware, a nurse who for years gave palliative care for terminally ill adults, has described the top five regrets that her patients expressed.  I wrote earlier about the regrets of older adults, so I was interested in the items on … Continue reading →

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“I Am Enjoying Dying”

Posted on March 23, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

I recently read a eulogy of Gordon Cosby, founder of Washington D.C.’s Church of the Savior, by Jim Wallis.  Cosby died Wednesday at age 94.  I was struck by something Cosby recently said to Wallis:  “I am enjoying dying.”  What … Continue reading →

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Posted on March 21, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

Originally posted on Me, senescent:
I loaf and invite my soul On March 21 nearly every year I give my students a quiz of one question. “Why is today the most important day of the year?” Almost never does a…

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The Day of Darkness: Bring in the Candles

Posted on March 19, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

On May 19, 1780, the sky over New England turned dark during what should have been daylight hours.  The darkness was observed as far south as New Jersey and as far north as Portland, Maine.  It took several hours for the gloom to pass; … Continue reading →

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Looking Ahead

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

Middle age tends to be a time of focusing not only on oneself and, if married, one’s mate, but also attending to maturing children and aging parents. Those generations—one on ahead, the other trailing—not only are sources of concern and … Continue reading →

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