Elder wisdom

Hello friends. Two decades after starting work on Elder Wisdom, I wondered about its relevance for today. Discounting some author prejudice, I think it holds up pretty well. One reason is that the ideas and experiences expressed by the hundred elders seem to be deeply rooted in human nature. My aging interviewees were speaking from core issues in their lives. Another reason for relevance is the great expansion of elderly populations in the United States and other industrialized countries.

For years to come, the Boomer cohort born after the end of World War II will continue to swell the ranks of older people in America. Similar projections can be made for great nations like India and China as they enter into the league of economically developed countries. Advances in health care will further lengthen the lives of people around the world. If the central topics of Elder Wisdom can be adapted widely, the book could help many people.

Another benefit of the book is that it explores the spirituality of aging in a humanistic idiom. Its themes can be related to traditional religious language, but they don’t have to be. For example, topics like community, nature, gratitude, acceptance, contemplation, compassion, friendship, humor, celebration, transformation, suffering, and death are taken up by all historical religions. Too many people still think of the secular and the sacred as separate categories. We can make distinctions, but real separation is misleading. We live in one interlinked world.

More about Elder Wisdom can be found by clicking on the book title link to the right. Best, Gene