It’s about ALL the generations!

I generally find the writings of my friend, Richard Leider, and his work with co-author, David Shapiro, to be inspiring and enlightening. In their book, Claiming Your Place at the Fire: Living the Second Half of Your Life on Purpose, they tell of their visit to a tribal village in Tanzania resulting in a challenge to those of us who are today’s generation’s “new elders” in asking four key questions:

 

Who am I?

In the Tanzanian village, the elders synthesize and transfer the wisdom of the past into the present.

 

Where do I belong?

Leider says the village elders have a powerful sense of where they have come from, where they are now, and where they are going.

 

How do I bring my passions alive?

They rejoice in rediscovering their life’s work, their calling, and their vocation.

 

What is my life’s purpose?

Freed from imposed schedules and demands, the village elders now find the freedom to recreate their lives anew.

Would you like to rekindle the good life, to stir the glowing embers of your peers, and leave the Light on for the next generations? Wouldn’t it be exciting for you to “synthesize and transfer the wisdom of your past into the present for those you have opportunity to influence?

This is the time for those in life’s second half to bless all the children, to listen to all the young hearts, to encourage with stories of faith and faithfulness all those young parents and single adults who need them most, and to hold the hands of all those walking worthy into life’s final turn.

And who will “show and tell” the babies about God’s eternal love, if not us? For young  and master elders these are the greatest of times to share Jesus’ story with those he loves. We can make “family” more than a throw away word.

Parents and grandparents are an important key to inspiring and equipping all our young through a genuine transfer of wisdom that provides a sense of where they have come from, where they are now, and where they are going. Today’s young generations need us to pay forward our patience and encouragement as they discover their own life’s work and callings.

Be blest and be a blessing.

Live the second half of your life with purpose!