The Gift of Years 5 - Learning to Let Go
Stacy Ikard & Phil Haag

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The Gift of Years 5 - Learning to Let Go

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The Gift of Years 5 - Learning to Let Go - The Text

The Gift of Years 5 - Learning to Let Go

What Happens As We Age?

•       Loss

•       What if - Aging is designed this way

•       What if – our losses have gifts hidden inside?

•       What if our spiritual task is to learn to let go?

•       What if our responsibility as elders involves teaching others to let go?

Richard Rohr

All great spirituality is about letting go. Instead, we have made it to be about taking in, attaining, performing, winning, and succeeding. True spirituality echoes the paradox of life itself. It trains us in both detachment and attachment: detachment from the passing so we can attach to the substantial. But if we do not acquire good training in detachment, we may attach to the wrong things, especially our own self-image and its desire for security. 

Home is REALLY Gone

Alic Fryling    THE FREEDOM OF LETTING GO

Letting go is a daily invitation for those of us in our senior years. But letting go does not mean we no longer care about the very things we are trying to release. Letting go does not mean we say to ourselves or others “it doesn’t matter anymore.” Letting go, rather, means we are no longer compulsively attached to our old perspectives, hopes, and expectations. This is a kind of “indifference” that gives us freedom. Spiritual director and author Phileena Heuertz writes that “indifference or non-attachment means to live with interior freedom, letting nothing own us but love.”

 The Beatitudes  -Matthew 5

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The First Commandment - Exodus 20

And God spoke all these words:

2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before[a] me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Deuteronomy 30

19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

The Welcoming Prayer by Fr. Thomas Keating

Welcome, welcome, welcome. I welcome everything that comes to me today, because I know it's for my healing. I welcome all thoughts, feelings, emotions, persons, situations, and conditions. I let go of my desire for power and control. I let go of my desire for affection, esteem, approval, and pleasure. I let go of my desire for survival and security. I let go of my desire to change any situation, condition, person or myself. I open to the love and presence of God and God's action within. Amen.

Volunteering  Your Time and Talent

Living the Beatitudes in Your Daily Life

May 2016 - Retired...Now What?

                       ACT III – Find that New Sense of Purpose

•       I knew I had passion for - Playing Music, Travel, Grandkids

•       I wanted to perform Acts of Service – Volunteering Opportunities

•       After two years of trial and error, the model that emerged was a perfect  combination for me

•       Major involvement with Hospice Austin

•       Provide live music for Hospice patients and Assisted Living & Memory Care residents at Hospice Partner Facilities

Hospice Volunteer Roles since 2019

•       Spending time with terminal patients and their families

•       Facilitating Weekly Grief Support Groups

•       Bringing music to patients and families at Christopher House

•       Performing shows at Hospice Partner Facilities                 

•       Westminster, Grand Living, Maravilla, Brookdale NW

Living the Beatitudes as a Volunteer

•       Blessed Are Those Who Mourn – Sit with those in grief

•       Blessed are the Merciful – Provide comfort without ability to fix the reality

•       Blessed are the Peacemakers – Help to Create Calm through Music

•       Blessed are the Meek – Humility in the presence of a Life Passing back to God

•       Blessed are the Poor in Spirit – Approach patients with humility and openness

•       Blessed are the  Pure in Heart -  Treat the dying with sincerity and an open heart

You Receive More Than You Give

•       A Deeper Sense of Purpose

•       Emotional Nourishment – feel useful, Human Connection

•       An Opportunity to use Your Special Talents

•       Personal Growth – Practice patience, empathy, presence

•       A Connection to Something Larger

Growth and Healing in Your Own Life