What does aging in faith mean to you?
I’d planned to post an essay today, but the one I was writing didn’t work out. Maybe that was for the best because I have a better idea. Instead of telling you what I’m thinking about aging in faith from a baby boomer’s perspective, I’d like to hear what you have to say. So if you’ve somehow stumbled across my Substack — given that there isn’t much to it just yet — and are so inclined, please answer as many or as few of the following questions as you’d like.
Are you a baby boomer? Early or late? I honestly think the earliest and latest boomers were born into different worlds.
Are you retired? Still working full time? Part-time? Living a life of leisure? :)
Do you consider yourself tech savvy or at least not totally lost in the online world?
What books are you reading? What books would you like to be reading? How is your intellectual life?
How is your spiritual life? What is your religious background?
What concerns do you have about aging? How does your faith affect what you think about the aging process?
Do you still believe God has a call on your life in some way? Has it changed any from when you were younger?
What challenges are you facing in day-to-day life? How do those impact your faith?
What issues about aging do you think aren’t being addressed? What would you like to see addressed?
Does it bother you to be called a senior or a senior citizen? Is that how you see yourself?
What caused you to stop on this page? What do you think a Substack on aging in faith should be talking about?
Thanks so much for visiting this startup Substack and answering my questions. My ideas for what I want to do in this space are pretty nebulous at the moment, so I hope your answers will help give me some direction. This platform has so many great writers and great newsletter topics that I wonder if I really belong here at all. But I’ll start with this and see where it goes.
I'm an early boomer--born in 1953.
I'm officially retired, though not in reality because I'm a church elder, and I work hard at it. I will say that's partially because the younger members of the church are not picking up their share of the basic needed work.
I will definitely not count myself as highly tech-savvy, but I get done what I need to do, and I use technology all the time.
I read all the time. My most important reading is the Bible, which I read almost every single day, but I also love books, articles and devotionals about how to best live the Christian life from the heart. My favorite Christian author is John Eldredge.
I have a growing and beautiful spiritual life--I hear God's voice regularly (not audibly, but definitely) and see His activity in my life. He is the center and greatest joy of my life--I perceive Him in all aspects of my life, from my marriage to my recreation. I came to faith fully when I was 38, after a life lived far, far from Him, out of a very dysfunctional and non-Christian family.
As a serious Christian, I've always had a call on my life since turning to the faith, but that has changed a great deal after becoming a church elder. The realization that my life is not my own is a palpable day-to-day reality.
Gosh, I have many challenges. The Christian walk isn't easy. But at this point my greatest challenge is what I mentioned earlier--that I'm called to a great responsibility as an elder, but the younger members of the congregation too often see themselves as consumers in the faith. I could discuss that for a long time, and then need plenty of ink for other difficulties.
My faith affects everything about the process of aging for me. I am not afraid of death at all. My greatest concern--and it's big--is that I finish well.
I'm not at all concerned about being called a senior, but as I age I would like to be a source of wisdom about how to live well, and I would very much hope I would not be seen as too old to be of much use.
I think a substack on aging could address many things, but the most important subject I can think of is how to finish well.
1. Born 1948
2. Self-employed after "retiring" as a writer.
3. Fairly good with technology after 40 years of computer use.
4. I like to read a variety of books, mostly non-fiction.
5. I came to faith in my early 40s. I am a former church elder and ministry leader.
6. Aging is inevitable, unless God calls you home before that
7. God still has a call on my life - to be a witness to Him in my books and Substack
8. Some minor/annoying health issues, but those rarely slow me down
9. What issues about aging do you think aren’t being addressed? The horrific state of so many “churches” that don’t teach the Gospel, but instead easy-believism and the affirmation of sin
10. Does it bother you to be called a senior or a senior citizen? No.
11. What caused you to stop on this page? Jason Clark.
12. What do you think a Substack on aging in faith should be talking about? About giving back through serving in the church and mentoring young people… We are still here on this earth for a reason!