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AudiobookAging Matters: Finding Your Calling for the Rest of Your Life Kindle Edition
by R. Paul Stevens (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 68 ratings
Academy of Parish Clergy’s Top Ten Books for Parish Ministry
Vocational discernment, says R. Paul Stevens, is a lifelong process — one that takes on even more significance in later life. In this book Stevens argues that our calling does not end with formal retirement; to the contrary, we do well to keep on working, if possible, till life's end.
Stevens delves into matters of calling, spirituality, and legacy in retirement, showing that we must continue to discern our vocation as we grow older in order to remain meaningfully engaged for the rest of our lives. He reframes retirement as a time of continued calling and productivity and points to biblical wisdom that can help us redefine aging as an extraordinarily fruitful season of life.
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Print length
201 pages
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Review
Eugene H. Peterson
-- author of The Message
"Paul Stevens has spent a writing lifetime in shaping the Christian imagination into embracing the ordinary areas of life. Aging Matters may well be his most important work -- important because we are living longer than ever and finding ourselves with fewer resources to live well and wisely. This book is a brilliantly crafted, prayerfully shaped witness for living to the glory of God."
Marilyn McEntyre
-- author of A Faithful Farewell
"Stevens's understanding of aging as a calling provides a foundation for imaginative, generous reflection on the gifts and the tasks of later life. With candor regarding the temptations and limits that come with age, he offers an invigorating vision of final years lived generously and purposefully. The study guides following each chapter make this a valuable handbook to share with friends and partners in faith."
Paul Pearce
-- Centre for Healthy Aging Transitions, Carey Institute
"This well-researched, engaging book encourages readers to embrace aging as a process for continuing to mature personally, live purposefully, and stay involved practically with others in ministry. . . . A very helpful, hopeful, faith-informed approach to one of the most significant challenges of our time."
About the Author
R. Paul Stevens is professor emeritus of marketplace theology and leadership at Regent College, Vancouver, British Columbia.
Product details
ASIN : B08MHYRHZW
Publisher : Eerdmans (5 April 2016)
Language : English
Print length : 201 pagesBest Sellers Rank: 754,605 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)464 in Mid-Life Management
695 in Later Years
699 in AgingCustomer Reviews:
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 68 ratings
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4.3 out of 5 stars
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Lumber Jack
5.0 out of 5 stars Not for the unbraveReviewed in Canada on 30 May 2021
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This is one of those books you either accept and voraciously ingest, or must immediately turn away from. For those who dare to accept, you will be forever changed and forever grateful!
One person found this helpfulReport
Richard
5.0 out of 5 stars Sparkles with Wit and Wisdom
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 June 2020
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Paul Stevens is Professor Emeritus of Marketplace Theology and Leadership at Regent College in Vancouver. He retired from his full-time post in 2005, but has been no less active in the years since. He continues to speak all over the world and promulgates a steady stream of lively, stimulating books.
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Paul Stevens is Professor Emeritus of Marketplace Theology and Leadership at Regent College in Vancouver. He retired from his full-time post in 2005, but has been no less active in the years since. He continues to speak all over the world and promulgates a steady stream of lively, stimulating books.
Aged 78 at the time of writing, Stevens exemplifies the central thesis of this book: that retirement in the sense of stopping work is not a biblical idea: ‘We should work until we die’ (p.11). We should carry on working because we are made to work, work is good for us, it is a practical way of loving our neighbour, it participates in spreading the kingdom of God, it is the main context in which we grow spiritually, and it prepares us for the life to come. Above all, it is normally the context in which we live out our calling. Stevens feels ‘my calling is to empower the whole people of God for service in the world, and to care for and love God, my family, and my neighbor, and to make beautiful things to embellish the world and people. That calling has remained constant even though the manifestation of the calling has changed fairly radically’ (p.31). Good for him!
Stevens recognises of course that for most people there is a time to give up one’s regular job, and that energy levels, along with sexual libido, decline with age, so he does not expect the elderly still to be going ‘full pelt’. Even Stevens admits ‘I don’t accomplish as much as I used to’ (p.74). For many there is a transition from an active to a more advisory role, the practice of ‘sage-ing’ where old people mentor others. One of his favourite texts is ‘Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom’ (Psalm 90:12). Numbering our days means treating each day as a gift from God, knowing that it could be our last.
However, one of the great strengths of Aging Matters is that it avoids sentimentality about the elderly. Stevens says old age does not solve outstanding personal flaws but usually exaggerates them. He has an interesting chapter on The Vices of Aging which includes the statements ‘One form of pride in the older person is the refusal to learn and the refusal to take instruction’ (p.87) and ‘For many people retirement is unorganised sloth’ (p.90). King Solomon did not finish well. ‘He finished as a compromised old man with a lustful mind’ (p.115). Stevens thinks ‘It is easy to succumb to a vice. It is a lot harder to embrace a virtue’ (p.100). Nevertheless he has a helpful chapter on how the elderly can cultivate virtue, based round the three theological virtues of faith, hope and love. The book is impelled by the key question: how can we finish well? One interesting recommendation is that seniors belong to an accountability group, a practice one normally associates with highly active people coping with the pressures and temptations of mid-career.
No book is perfect, and I felt this one could have benefited from a tighter editorial hand, avoiding duplication of material in different places. There is also comparatively little about the experience of dementia, a condition which now afflicts so many elderly people. But overall this is a splendid book, sparkling with wit, wisdom, personal anecdote, and insightful biblical reflection. The best recommendation I can give is that I gave it to my father-in-law, who is exactly the same age as Paul Stevens. He found it so helpful that he asked me to get a couple more copies, which he has given to friends of the same age. They are using the book in a discussion group, with the questions and reflections at the end of each chapter providing ready scope for that.
Stevens recognises of course that for most people there is a time to give up one’s regular job, and that energy levels, along with sexual libido, decline with age, so he does not expect the elderly still to be going ‘full pelt’. Even Stevens admits ‘I don’t accomplish as much as I used to’ (p.74). For many there is a transition from an active to a more advisory role, the practice of ‘sage-ing’ where old people mentor others. One of his favourite texts is ‘Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom’ (Psalm 90:12). Numbering our days means treating each day as a gift from God, knowing that it could be our last.
However, one of the great strengths of Aging Matters is that it avoids sentimentality about the elderly. Stevens says old age does not solve outstanding personal flaws but usually exaggerates them. He has an interesting chapter on The Vices of Aging which includes the statements ‘One form of pride in the older person is the refusal to learn and the refusal to take instruction’ (p.87) and ‘For many people retirement is unorganised sloth’ (p.90). King Solomon did not finish well. ‘He finished as a compromised old man with a lustful mind’ (p.115). Stevens thinks ‘It is easy to succumb to a vice. It is a lot harder to embrace a virtue’ (p.100). Nevertheless he has a helpful chapter on how the elderly can cultivate virtue, based round the three theological virtues of faith, hope and love. The book is impelled by the key question: how can we finish well? One interesting recommendation is that seniors belong to an accountability group, a practice one normally associates with highly active people coping with the pressures and temptations of mid-career.
No book is perfect, and I felt this one could have benefited from a tighter editorial hand, avoiding duplication of material in different places. There is also comparatively little about the experience of dementia, a condition which now afflicts so many elderly people. But overall this is a splendid book, sparkling with wit, wisdom, personal anecdote, and insightful biblical reflection. The best recommendation I can give is that I gave it to my father-in-law, who is exactly the same age as Paul Stevens. He found it so helpful that he asked me to get a couple more copies, which he has given to friends of the same age. They are using the book in a discussion group, with the questions and reflections at the end of each chapter providing ready scope for that.
Phoenix heat
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the few books where you will read and re read sections over n overReviewed in the United States on 3 January 2017
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Well written, well researched, well illustrated, and tethered to a well rooted Biblical world view. Exceptional. Have already begun recommending it to friends. Though an excellent read for anyone wanting to bring boundaries and focus to their lives, if you are 50 or older, it is a must. it is easy to tell as much thought and precision went into the questions at the end of each chapter as went into the chapters themselves. No brainer
5 people found this helpfulReport
Barbara Doubtfire
5.0 out of 5 stars Five StarsReviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 October 2016
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Entirely as I have come to expect...very efficient.
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Jimmy, North Carolina
4.0 out of 5 stars It's a book I should have read 20 years ago ...Reviewed in the United States on 6 September 2016
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It's a book I should have read 20 years ago or more than that. It would have helped me prepare my aging process and Christian livi. I feel people in their 40's should make it a book for helping them prepare in their aging process. It made me realize I am still important and we all need each other.
4 people found this helpfulReport
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