I am embracing the journey in “last third living.” My mind prepares for what is ahead. I am thankful for all that has brought me to this point. Finishing Arthur Brooks’s book, From Strength to Strength, here are the key reminders for me:
Tag Archives: Last Third Living
The only constant is change
I think I hate change. I think I hate disruption in my patterns and routines. My fantasy thinking is there should be no change. Yet, change is constant. Our bodies changes on the cellular level constantly. As I age, I grouse about the changes I feel on a bigger level in my body. Still, IContinue reading “The only constant is change”
Flourishing out of tragedy
Arthur Brooks in his book, From Strength to Strength, tells the story of Beethoven. He was trained by great composers and musicians. His talent in composing and on the piano was off the charts. He gradually became deaf in his 30s and what musician can operate without their hearing?
The deep, sustaining beauty of relationships
“I awoke this morning with a devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new. Shall I not call God the Beautiful, who daily showeth himself to me in his gifts? I chide society, I embrace solitude, and yet I am not so ungrateful as not to see the wise, the lovely, and theContinue reading “The deep, sustaining beauty of relationships”
Expose death
We hide the reality of death and dying in America. Ironically, we have an obsession with death or near death in our entertainment, but when the thought of the reality of death comes near, we hide it all too often.
People will forget me
Arthur Brooks in his book, From Strength to Strength, gives brutal assessments. People will forget me. My striving for “significance” is going to come to nothing. But the key is this: Obsessing over the future squanders the present.
Aging properly
A few months ago I began to process what “the last third” of my life should look like. I have been more earnest about that mainly because of the work of Arthur Brooks. I listened to a talk he gave a few years go, then an article with the same basic material, and I knewContinue reading “Aging properly”
A simple reminder
Matthew 6:22–23 (NLT)22 “Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. 23 But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!
Deep righteousness
If there is a place I could camp in Scriptures for the rest of my life, it would be the Sermon on the Mount. I find so many other places to love and visit, but the Sermon has been my Everest climb for the past 25 plus years.
We have pursued power
My ancient wells reading now has me in the Sermon on the Mount. This is a key time for me to be dwelling in this passage as I think about “Last Third Living.” I also dwell on the few verses before 5:1 and think about “power” and “attraction.”
Apprentice 2 Jesus 