Two Halves of Life Group

Ascent and descent: the journey of the soul

This group aims to explore the energies, struggles and spiritualities arising from the transition from the first half to the second half of life. It notes that faith and life take on a strikingly different aspect, the way becomes less clear.  ‘I don’t know where I’m going but neither am I lost’ remarked one member of the group. What we believe in and how we pray seems to be disconcertingly unsatisfying and appears to be shifting. 

Writers speak about the journey which formerly was about ascent - making a mark and way in the world, developing a sense of self or ego - but which then changes into descent - a sense of letting go, of poverty, an integration and of compassion.  See ‘The two halves of life: how did we get them so mixed up?’  What happens in us when such changes occur?  Do I misinterpet them, do I resist them?  Is a message of ascend, and more ascending, of More and Again of the same actually the journey for the soul?

History

We have been meeting since August 2007, going public at Richard Rohr’s visit to Edinburgh in June 2007. We invite any who wish to explore, share, learn and reflect on this one particular (peculiar!) stage in human and spiritual development – mid life.

Topics explored to date

• A new space

  - Second growth: Discontent, restlessness, doubt, despair, longing as signs of growing pains

• Mapping the journey

  - “I needed to be humbled, cooked in the tears of loss, for any deeper life to emerge”

• Leave-taking and Homecoming

  - The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you

• The Return to Wonder

  - Seen it all, done it all, heard it all.  Mid-life, the “the no more bullshit passage”.  Cynicism and the the simple love of all things

• Forgiveness

  - Transform our prejudice, nurture our growth, deepen our questions, widen our view, challenge our comforts…May our thoughts make us explorers./li>

• Orientation, Disorientation and New Orientation through the Psalms

  - “Disorientation..an abrupt or slowly dawning acknowledgement that constitutes a dismantling of the old known world and a relinquishment of safe, reliable confidence in God’s good creation…ragged, painful disarray and abrasive”

• Heritage and Lineage

  - “What was my instructive upbringing in the faith? In what ways did it help?  In what ways might it have hindered?  We have got to start ‘conservative’ with certainty and boundaries” 

• True and False Self

  - “Somewhere, somehow, we began to live as if we were separate, alone, and in danger.  Once afraid, we constructed a self out of that fear and have been steadfastly defending it ever since’”

• Play

  - “It takes the four seasons of our life to develop the art of doing all things playfully; that is, religiously.”

• Letting go

  - “The signs of transition are a resurgence of immense fear, so the temptation is to return to the tried and tested.  Which is half right.” 

• Transition

  - Infatuation and enchantment– Nesting and manipulation - CRISIS - Resolution and Integration

• Generativity and stagnation

  - “Caring is the greatest thing, caring matters most.”

• The Body

  - “Our rootedness, our sense of place and space, is profoundly bodily”

• Beauty

  - “In the experience of beauty we awaken and surrender in the same act.”

• Exhaustion

• Lost

  -  “The old skin splits”, “We live by shedding”

• Gender and Spirituality: Ascent and Descent for Women and Men

• Gender and Spirituality: Androgyny

• Community

• Acedia - the noonday demon.  Torpor and the refusal of joy

• The Physiology of Ageing and the Journey of Faith

Our format will typically be:

• Eating together.
• Creating space to comment on our own reflections since last we met.
• Listen to a few tracks from a CD (Ronald Rolheiser, David Whyte, Kathleen Norris, James Finlay say) or refer to some pre-emailed reading material (Alan Jamieson, Anne Brennan & Janice Brewi, Walter Bruggemann, Thomas Merton, John O’ Donohue..) on one aspect of the mid-life transition.
• Discuss what we have heard or read; what has stood out for us.  What memories and questions have they stirred?
• Offer personal space to pray; to meditate on relevant poems (eg Mary Oliver, R S Thomas), images, extracts or work with some art andcraft materials.

Find out more

See the resources section for a list of sources used.

If you would like to come to any of the meetings or would like more information, please contact Andrew and Kirsty Hook.