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Preface

In a person’s later years, the life of prayer is not a luxury—it is an imperative priority. Freed from the demands of family and work, we now have precious opportunities to move from “many things”to “the one thing necessary.”Gandhi called prayer the key of the morning and the bolt of the evening. Prayer unlocks doors of new opportunities. When Peter prayed at Caesarea, men from Cornelius stopped at his house and God opened a door for the Gentiles to be welcomed into the Christian church. Prayer is also a lock for the night. As the ancient psalmist prayed, “I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O LORD, make me lie down in safety”(Ps. 4:8).

This prayer book is not to be read once and put away. It is intended as a constant guide for your spiritual life. You can open it at random or select readings by theme or section. You can keep it by your bedside and read a prayer to end the day, or keep it on the coffee- or kitchen table in your home to have available at any time. You will find treasured prayers of saints through the ages that we can make our own. The timelessness of these prayers makes this volume a continuing and valued resource.

I wrote these prayers in the years following my “retirement”and tried to relate them to my own spiritual journey. They speak not only to my needs as an older person but also to countless others in the third and fourth ages of life. Also, these prayers can be guidelines for younger generations who seek a spiritual understanding of the later years.

I have reached the magical age of seventy. As I reflect on the journey we call aging, I find that seven major tasks confront us in our later years. These prayers seek God’s help as we meet these late-life challenges.

Two major tasks face the young old: (1) discovering God’s call at retirement, and (2) moving to deeper contemplation. When a person’s full-time work ends, a new vocation can begin. God continues to call us as long as we live. The earlier years of late life are a time for us deepen the inner life. All too often the temptation is to wallpaper the empty spaces with busy activities. But soul work—cultivating a contemplative life with God—is a never-ending challenge.

The mature old face three tasks: (1) accepting our aging, (2) discerning the meaning of our stories, and (3) mentoring the next generations. When we first retire we try to deny our aging. Most of us want to live to a ripe old age, especially when we consider the alternative. We want to live long, but we don’t want to get old. Captivated by the cult of youth, we’ll do anything to deny that we are getting old. But as we do age, we discover that youth doesn’t have a monopoly on excitement, beauty, and achievement. We realize that the later years have their own unique value. As we begin to experience some of the inevitable issues of growing older, we come to accept our aging.

Remembering the past is a way in which we can affirm our identity and the value of our own life story as we grow older. Claiming our stories—with their celebrations and crises—can bring a sense of integrity to our later years. The wisdom of older persons needs to be shared in a mentoring role with the next generations. We need to tell our own stories to younger generations so this valued wisdom will not be lost.

For the oldest old, two challenges remain: (1) facing loss and death, and (2) redeeming our suffering. The crippling experience of a shrinking circle of friends, the loss of independence, and constant threats to health make us aware of our own mortality. We need to learn how to accept these losses and face our own death with courage and hope. As one lives longer and longer, physical decline, if not major assaults on the body, will occur. Depression may ensue, unless this suffering is transformed by a heroic spirit and a sense of humor.

This Prayer Book for the Later Years addresses these major tasks. It is all too easy to give up hope and to despair as the later years bring their inevitable issues. Prayer bridges the gap between us and God.

Nor is this book only for those in their later years. During our middle years we make financial preparation for retirement. We should also be building our spiritual income for old age. This book can provide that spiritual income for those anticipating the later years.

In “Prayer Is the Soul’s Sincere Desire,”hymn writer James Montgomery said it well: “[Prayer] is the motion of a hidden fire that trembles in the breast.”All through history, God had kindled the flame of sacred love in the hearts of people. The ancient Levites received the command, “The fire on the altar shall be kept burning; it shall not go out”(Lev. 6:12). Moses witnessed Yahweh’s awesome presence in the burning bush (Exod. 3:2) and led the Israelites out of bondage by a pillar of fire. Two disciples, walking on the road to Emmaus on that first Easter afternoon, had given up hope. But they were joined by a stranger whose presence caused their hearts to burn with hope and joy (Luke 24:32). Fire symbolizes the gift of the Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:3).

Blaise Pascal had an experience of God’s presence in 1654, which he described as “fire.”He sewed the words of his prayer into the lining of his jacket next to his heart, where it was found at his death. At a society in Aldersgate Street where he heard read Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans, John Wesley felt his heart strangely warmed, and the evangelical revival followed. Catherine of Siena knew the fire. She wrote,

Your fire surpasses all fire, because your fire alone burns without destroying. The flames of your fire reach into the soul. . . . But far from damaging the soul, your fire sets it ablaze with love.¹

In the later years, as the passion and ardor of youth wanes and as the warmth of summer fades into the shadows of autumn, we must seek to discover this sacred fire of faith through prayer.

As you meditate on these prayers, may these words of Charles Wesley become your own:

O Thou who camest from above,

The pure celestial fire to impart,

Kindle a flame of sacred love

Upon the mean altar of my heart!

There let it for thy glory burn

with inextinguishable blaze,

and trembling to its source return,

in humble prayer and fervent praise.

Jesus, confirm my heart’s desire

to work and speak and think for thee;

Still let me guard the holy fire,

And still stir up thy gift in me.

¹ Book of Prayers, compiled by Robert Van de Weyer (New York: HarperCollins, 1993), 88.