Full Description
Discover how retirement can lead to new spiritual possibilities.
What now? Where do I go from here?
In many parts of the world, retirement from the daily workforce is a door you walk through in order to discover your soul. In the last third of life, it is an opportunity to focus on the goals that are most important to you.
Creating a Spiritual Retirement invites you to examine your spiritual life and explore ways of making it more meaningful, from three different perspectives:
"The Individual Spirit"—Contemplate the possibilities for spiritual growth that come with retirement from the daily workplace
"The Great Spirit"—Discover how to look for the sacred in this life, in both ordinary and extraordinary ways
"Practical Spirituality"—Create your path to more fully develop a spiritual practice that will provide support, strength, challenge, and comfort in the later years of life.With creative exercises and warm, practical advice, this book is a helpful tool for anyone on their retirement journey.
This unusual "guidebook" helps you deepen your relationship with the unseen but no less real presence of spirit in your life. Each chapter focuses on a particular idea for consideration from a spiritual point of view, and concludes with a reflection and questions designed to help you explore your thoughts during this important time in life.
"Retirement can be a time rich in understanding of ourselves and others. It is a time to gather the wisdom we have gained through the years and make it our own. It is a time to take care of unfinished business. It is a time to look beyond the surface of our lives to the deeper inner meaning that is a part of each of us. It is truly a time to connect with our own inner spirit or soul and with the Great Spirit that animates all life."
—from the Introduction
Supportive, insightful and inspiring, Creating a Spiritual Retirement will help you make the next stage in your life a meaningful one.
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
Part One The Individual Spirit
1• Taking the First Step 3
2• Letting Go of Who We Were 9
3• Finding Out Who We Really Are 13
4• The Round House 17
5• Gone Where? 21
6• Soul Purpose 25
7• Taking the Plunge 29
8• Connecting with Spirit 33
9• Finding the Voice of Spirit 39
10• Attuning to the Voice of Spirit 43
11• Fruits of the Spirit 47
Part Two The Great Spirit
12• Preface to God 53
13• Strange Gods 57
14• The Journey Continues 63
15• A Bend in the Road 67
16• Will the Real God Please Stand Up? 73
17• Creation Speaks 79
18• The Presence 83
19• The Other 87
20• What about Religion? 93
Part Three Practical Spirituality
21• Where Do We Go from Here? 99
22 • Compassion 101: Loving Yourself 103
23• Compassion 102: Loving Others 109
24• Judge Not Lest . . . 113
25• When Bad Things Happen 119
26 • Sitting with the Feelings 125
27• Four A.M. Darkness 131
28• Measuring the Distance 137
29• Keeping in Step 143
30• Getting the Job Done 149
31• Unfinished Business 153
32• Four Steps to a Better Day 157
33• Going Home 163
34• Now Is the Time 169
