Aging: The Fulfillment of Life

by Henri J. M. Nouwen

Paperback, 1976

Status

Available

Description

We are all aging. We are each a spoke on the great wheel of life, part of the ongoing cycle of growth. In Aging, Henri J.M. Nouwen and Walter J. Gaffney share some moving and inspirational thoughts on what aging means (and can mean) to all of us, whether we're in our youth, middle age, or later years. Enhanced by some eighty-five photographs depicting various scenes from life and nature, this book shows how to make the later years a source of hope rather than a time of loneliness -- a way out of darkness into the light. "Aging," the authors write, "is not a reason for despair, but a basis of hope, not a slow decaying, but a gradual maturing, not a fate to be undergone but a chance to be embraced." And they remind us of our responsibility to incorporate the aged into the fabric of our own lives -- helping them become teachers again so they may help us repair the fragmented connections between generations. Aging shows us all how to start fulfilling our lives by giving to others, "so that when we leave this world, we can be what we have given." It is a warm, beautiful, and caring book: a simple reaffirmation of the promise of Him, who by His aging and death brought new life to this world.… (more)

Publication

Image (1976), 160 pages

Rating

(6 ratings; 4.3)

User reviews

LibraryThing member jd234512
In this short book, Nouwen lays out what many others have done as well in enlightening us on the way we view the elderly. The caveat he adds, however, is that we are all aging and all have an important part to contribute based on the way we age. By understanding and embracing this we can see that
Show More
every person has a place in the wonderful spectrum of life and should be viewed in that light. Although not certainly one of his best, he does a beautiful service to a humble and generous outlook on life and this is another extension of this.
Show Less
Page: 0.164 seconds