Seeking an integration of life narratives and faith:
Towards Transcendence
In the eyes of one coming from an Asian or African background, in the churches in Europe young people are conspicuously absent. This situation, of course, has to be considered in the light of the demographic details that I mentioned in an earlier talk. However, the situation does raise some questions. Do the elderly go to church just because they belong to a generation to which religion was important? Or, is it because young people do not simply have the time to go church? Or still, people generally become more interested in religion in later years of life?
One of my lecturers, an Anglican priest herself, has a very interesting explanation: the presence of the elderly in the churches may not be a sign that Christianity has become irrelevant in Europe. The capitalist society puts too much pressure on the young people and […]
Spirituality
Letter from London 4: Role of Memory in Spirituality
Do This in Memory of Me!
What can the young learn from the spirituality of the elderly?
At least once a month I celebrate the Sunday Eucharist in a nursing home for the aged. Except the nuns who look after them and a few visitors, who are apparently the children and grandchildren of the residents, the participants of this celebration are in the age range of 85 and 105. There are some challenges to be paid attention to: I need to speak loudly enough for the deaf to hear, at the same time I should not be jarring in the ears of those who use hearing-aid; I should not be too long for the sake of those who suffer from incontinence, at the same time be lengthy enough for the pious old Irish ladies to get a satisfaction of having been to the Sunday mass; and above all, being able to meaningfully […]