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22 May 2026

 

Each Day A Lifetime

The Administration for Community Living has set the month of May as “Older Americans Month” to honor the contributions of elders, stress personal responsibility amongst older folk and encourage elder independence. 

As an elder, I cannot help but review the passing of my years. In the process, I often reflect on the letter Karol Wojtyła (Pope John Paul II) wrote to the elderly in 1999. Wojtyla (who was then 79) expressed his affection for elderly people of all cultures who faced a variety of problems, as did he.

Tribulation is part of everyone's life; suffering - physical and emotional - tests our courage and, sometimes, shakes our Faith. So, Wojtyla wrote, aging should help us see our past in clearer light … and soften the painful side, as (hopefully) we make a serene and objective evaluation of persons and situations.

Christian belief reveals that we possess a spiritual soul; we survive beyond death. For the believing Christian, life is always seen in light of immortality. Thus, our years should teach us that, by God’s grace and our perseverance, life’s difficulties can deepen our moral character and reveal the pettiness of egoism.

Mistakes

During my years I have seen wars and (in Wojtyla’s words) the “mobilization of hatred, which struck brutal blows even against defenseless civil populations and destroyed entire generations.”

I witnessed the effects of state-sanctioned cruelty as I walked the pebbled paths of Auschwitz and saw those bleak barracks which housed the victims of massive self-deception. Decades later, I see similar folly in our America where, to this day, we still struggle with racial and religious hatred based on lies leading to violence and the deaths of innocent people.

I’ve realized (as should everyone) that we are – all of us – fallen men and women, capable of life-long self-deception which we empower by lies and distortions about one another, however small they seem at first, however huffily we invoke shallow excuses to justify our disdain for Patience and Forgiveness.

One example is the compulsive desire to end life (assisted suicide) under the false belief that doing so is an act of kindness to the elderly. This misguided empathy is a massive distortion of the attentive respect which age deserves. George Weigel writes: “The object of our choosing is what invests that choosing with dignity, or, conversely, degrades us. Choice untethered from reason and virtue is childish willfulness. Choice as an expression of my “autonomy” is the worship of the false god of the imperial self: the god of Me, Myself, and I. And the worship of false gods never conduces to personal happiness or social solidarity.”

Despite destructive trends, many reasons exist to thank God for the immense potential for peace. As Wojtyla says, “Tribulations not only do not destroy Hope; they are its foundation.”

How To Live

As I age, I recall the kindly love of my Mother and the stern affection of my Father … and so much more:

• I remember the no-nonsense attitudes of the Good Nuns at St. Joseph’s School in Homewood, Illinois;
• I recall the lovely girl who, in fifth grade, held my attention in a way which - for the first time - no other person ever had;
• I recall the pursuit of my educational goals, of university life and graduate school and the quiet years of study;
• I recall, with grateful heart, decades of marriage and the Love, Trust and Intimacy which my Beloved and I shared;
• And I recall the decades from my distant childhood to my elder years, when each day is now a lifetime.

I’ve learned that each phase of life has its particular effect on us all, culminating in the gift of our old age.

Why do I say “gift?”

Because I have also learned that old age has its benefits. For one thing, Saint Jerome observes that age brings a quieting of our passions, prompting an increase in our appreciation of true Wisdom, affording us insight to see beyond the evil intentions which others may harbor.

Ideally, old age bestows moral maturity and insight to our judgments, for true Wisdom comes from thoughtful experience and a depth of empathy which acknowledges the humanity of all who share the Mystery of life. And, as Wojtyla again points out, it is precisely because of our mature experience that we elderly are able to offer young people precious advice and guidance (if they will listen and heed what we have to offer).

Hopefully, the thoughtful maturity of elderhood is valued over the frailty of age, so that elderhood becomes not simply a burden of years but a unifying factor in the mutual dependence of solid family life and the indispensable solidarity which should link generations.

To Die In Hope And Love

We also know the reality of death disturbs many elderly souls who view the dark side of dying with sadness and fear. When I face uncertainty and wonder, I recall what Jesus said to all of us: “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.”

Faith illuminates the Mystery of death and offers serenity to the elderly. Faith assures us that dying is not meant as a calamity but as a promise of understanding and intimacy surpassing all human knowledge.

Wojtyla reminds us that our elder years are “to be lived with a sense of trusting abandonment into the hands of God, our provident and merciful Father.” Our elder years are a time to deepen our spiritual life through more fervent prayer and to serve our brothers and sisters in Charity.

Thus, with Faith and Hope - rather than worry - in one’s heart, Wisdom urges us lovingly to accept the will of God and place ourselves each day in His merciful hands, so that we live our days in serenity, without regret for what we leave behind.

Finally . . .

I have learned that each day we live is indeed a lifetime. But if I could live my life over again, what would I do? Here is my answer:

… The Privilege Of Now …

• To live my life all over again in just one enlightened day;
• At this late date, what would I do that yet I have not done?
• To live but one day more, aware;
• To attend fully to the grandeur of all life;
• To be of prayerful mind and unceasingly grateful heart,
• To see my defenses are but weary detours,
• Impeding my journey, moving me from hopeful respite,
• Buffering harsh reality that nurtures Truth.
• To know that knowing is empty without Faith to fill unknowable gaps,
• To see beyond so many heartless moments,
• Beyond my ego’s restless need.
• To remember being loved, then to love renewed with memory’s earnest energies.
• And, as evening calms my quest, then to say with gratitude and humbly to admit
• That God Alone is all …
• That all of life is from His gracious Hand.
• Surely, after patient years, that day is now.
• This is that day of life re-lived, happily upon me still;
• This blessed day, a lifetime’s gift pursued, eternally fleeting -- but always now.