How Strange To Be 80
Can We Create a Theology of Aging
Turning 80! No great fanfare or cosmic realignment. Just a wonderful Sunday afternoon with close family watching football, snacking on finger food and, of course, cake. It is hard to realize that I am this age and I am grateful to be still be working and involved with my jewishsacredaging.com and weekly Seekers of Meaning podcast.
But this birthday has also woken up some feelings. Death anxiety is ever present. Likewise, is the feeling of gratitude for this gift of life, now more fragile than ever. In reading and studying for the classes I teach on the linkage between Jewish texts, tradition and longevity, it is becoming more clear to me that we do need to create a theology of aging, for the spiritual question (inherent in every religious tradition) often are repressed or ignored until a medical crises emerges. Indeed, in his new book “Golden Years” James Chappel argues that we see aging in the USA more from a medical framework and what may be needed, as we live longer and better, is to examine this from a spiritual perpective.
This really opens the door for creating meaningful conversations beyond just filling out a document such as an advanced directive or health care proxy. These are literal acknowledgements of our own mortality. There is a lot of teaching about medical issues, financial issues etc. What about spiritual issues? Do we open discussions on our own legacy? What of us do we wish to leave behind? How do we deal with our own sense of regret for what was and how do we seek meaning and purpose for what we hope, will yet come to be? If we are given the gift of longevity, what do we wish to do with it?
The blessings of medical technology and public health advances have made it possible for us to add years to our life. The debate between our life span and our “health span” is a debate really about spiritual issues. The legalization of Medical Aid in Dying has also shown us the need for serious conversations about one;s sense of meaning. We even may need to look at the very vocabulary we use to describe our own aging. Increasingly books and articles are beginning to look at this. Aging, as so many are now observing, is very personal. The number of years we are means very little since each of us ages so differently.
Jewish texts and tradition speaks to these realities in a variety of ways, The depth of the texts make for fascinating teaching. The interpretations of many of these texts also make for diversity of approaches. Yet, they all remind us of the sacredness of this gift called life, that this gift is fragile and must be taken care of as it is precious. That is why in our tradition we greet every new day with “modeh ani”: let me give thanks that I have been given another day.
Rabbi Richard F Address, D.Min RabbiAddress@JewishSacredAging.com