Eleven Spiritual Practices for Older Adults
Eleven spiritual practices that can deepen our awareness of the essential spiritual part of life and provide frameworks for navigating aging with grace and joy.
January 17, 2025
Eleven spiritual practices that can deepen our awareness of the essential spiritual part of life and provide frameworks for navigating aging with grace and joy.
While we prepare as best as we can for our physical and financial needs as we age, we also need to achieve some understanding of the meaning of our lives, i.e., our spirituality
We live in a death-denying culture and most of us would prefer not to think about death and dying. We shove it out of our minds, speak about it only in muffled tones, and keep it at a great distance. But not to think of death is not very smart because we all have a date with it.
What does it mean for our faith, church, and ministry to understand older adults as Keepers of the Meaning?
Our churches are graying. But aging and growing older shouldn’t be thought of as a negative life stage. Aging can be the path leading toward maturity, growth, and wisdom.
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day raises awareness of cultural, social, economic, and demographic processes affecting elder abuse and neglect.
My good friend, Rev. Ward Tanneberg writes a blog titled, “Perspective: Living, Learning and Leading in Life’s Third Age”. In a recent blog post, he shared a story that has appeared over the years. As we prepare to celebrate Easter, I thought it would be appropriate to retell the story.
On my desk is a small, unframed piece of paper. While the edges are frayed and the once-white paper is yellowing, it provides an important focus for living my days. It reminds me of who I am and what I hope to become.
Sooner or later, everyone endures bereavement — the experience of the death of a loved one. Our emotional response to bereavement is grief, a personal experience whose duration and depth can vary from individual to individual. Some people recover quickly from a loss and move on. Other people grieve intensely for a short period before finding peace while other individuals feel profound grief for years.
As a child, I had freckles on my nose and cheeks. My body was not covered in freckles like some of my childhood friends, but I didn’t like that I had freckles anywhere on my body. My distain for my freckles was well known to my family.
The ENCORE Ministry Foundation provided a grant to First United Methodist in Columbia, Tennessee, to help fund their feeding ministry, the People’s Table. Since 2004, the People’s Table ministry serves meals to neighbors in need every Tuesday evening and Friday afternoon, providing nourishment, love, and hope to the homeless, elderly, families, and individuals struggling to make ends meet. However, the need in the community is growing. With the closure of a local battery plant and reductions in SNAP benefits, more families are facing food insecurity.
Together, we can be the hands and feet of Jesus, feeding the hungry, caring for the vulnerable, and showing love to those who need it most. Every dollar you give to the Kent and Ellen McNish Fund for Older Adult Food Security helps feeding ministries stretch resources and serve more meals to those in need. Donate today and help support life-changing feeding ministries like the People’s Table.