Life Is for LivingMay 04, 2026

Life Is for Living

“Each period of life has its own purpose. . . . The task of this period of life, . . . is not simply to endure the coming of the end of time. It is to come alive in ways I have never been alive before.” The Gift of Years, Joan Chittister

“This period of life” is that of our later years and the quotation above is from the “Introduction” to Chittister’s magnificent book on growing older. In it she offers her readers many nuggets to chew on, nuggets that challenge our experience of the later years of life. I first read this book about twenty years ago and found it appealing. I’m rereading it now, in my late 70s, and find it mesmerizing.

She states that each stage of life has a purpose; the last stage’s purpose “is to come alive in ways I have never been alive before.” What a challenge! It brings to mind the words of Jesus, “I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly.” Jn 10:10 The joy of the Easter season is the joy of our later years. It’s a joy that has seen pain and sorrow yet still triumphs through love. It’s a joy that comes from the depths of our hearts because it is of God.

Coming alive in new ways in one’s eighties and nineties may sound like a dream, but it is a dream to which God calls us. How might we prepare ourselves to answer this call? No matter our age we must become like a little child again: open to wonder, bursting with curiosity, receptive to love, resting in our Parent’s embrace. Can you imagine a more appealing way to spend your later years?

Sister Virginia DeVinne