As you read this article, Chaplain Andrew and I will be in Chicago at the 7th International Conference on Aging and spirituality which began in Canberra, Australia in 2000 and until the 2015 Conference, all were held in countries of the British Commonwealth: Australia, New Zealand, England and Scotland. This is the second time it will be held in the United states and Andrew and I are excited to attend. These conferences include voices from many parts of the world, voices from the domains of the academic and the aging services, voices from various faith traditions and voices representing the “spiritual, but not religious,” and they include a mixture of keynote speakers, workshops and papers of interest to those coming from a faith based approach and to those approaching spirituality from a secular viewpoint.
We will be meeting at the historic campus of Concordia University, Chicago which has a Center for Gerontology (the study of aging and older adults). The conference theme is “Transition and Transcendence: Transforming Aging through Spirituality.” Together we will explore navigating the transitions of aging, how transcendence is experienced in times of change, and how the experience of aging and our understanding of it can be transformed. “How do we, as persons who are growing older ourselves and who serve older adults, encourage ourselves and encourage them to find the spiritual paths and practices that will sustain them – and us – through hard change and loss? And how does our spirituality help us to move from focusing on our own needs and pains to seeing ourselves as part of a wider world, where, in spite of limitations, there is still much we can offer and needs we can meet? How do we engage the wider cultures in which we live in conversation about the possibilities and promises of aging in the midst of all these transitions? In short, how can we harness the power of the spirit available to all of us to transform aging wherever we live?”
It is exciting that Andrew is one of the presenters speaking on: “The Road Goes Ever On – Viewing Aging As A Step On Our Spiritual Pilgrimage.” In his presentation, Andrew will be using the experiences of many people here at the Campus to demonstrate how beneficial it is to see aging not as a dilemma, but rather as an essential and beneficial part of our life-long quest for self-understanding and spiritual growth.
Having never been to Chicago, I am looking forward to seeing new sights and learning new insights. Plus, I've heard they have some pretty good pizza! Look for a future article in which we will share about our experience.
*By the way, the word “ageing” in the title is not a typo. The Conference comes from other parts of the world, where they spell it as “ageing” rather than how we spell it here in the United States – “aging.”
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