Conti.. Spirituality of the Old..Religious- Part 111.C.3 

 Bandhu Ishanand Vempeny, S. J.

                                                                     

 SPIRITUALITY OF THE OLD  RELIGIOUS - Part11I .C.3 

Exercise 3: Healing the Hurt-Feelings through Forgiveness

          According to a Chinese Proverb, ‘A revengeful person digs two graves, one for himself and one for his enemy.’  Forgiveness is vital for a happy old age. Also for physical, psychological and above all for spiritual healing.

a.      Repeat the above exercise till ‘e’.

b.     Picture the scene in which you experienced true forgiving love from those people whom you have offended.

c.      Picture the scene in which you experienced God’s forgiveness.

d.     Picture the scene in which a person hurt your feelings and inflicted deep psychic wounds. If the other person is 90% responsible for the conflict, what is that 10% of your responsibility? Forgive yourself for that 10%. Try to find out some good and noble qualities in the offender. Pray for his well-being.

e.      Concentrate on your breathing for 2 to 3 minutes.

f.       Look at the picture of the Risen Lord intently for a minute and pray: “Jesus, you have forgiven your enemies. Give me the grace to forgive my enemies. They are loved by you and by your and my father in heaven. Help me to accept (name the person) as my brother/sister. Lord, give him love, respect and recognition from others. May he experience true peace and prosperity.”

g.     Close your eyes. Concentrate on your breath for five minutes. Then say: “I send my love vibrations to (Name).” Repeat these words silently for a few minutes and say: “I send my peace and joy to (Name).” (Christianized version of Metabhavana of Vipasana.)

Conclusion

          This paper is primarily meant for the aging people especially the Religious and the Clerics. Unless we know something about death and our final destiny we can know very little about meaningful life. Hence this paper is of some use for younger people as well.

          As Pope John Paul II said, if life is a journey to our ultimate destiny, old age is the occasion for peeping through the door of our Eternal Home. Our studies in the second part are meant to have a realistic view of old age liberating ourselves from the lyrically optimistic and exaggeratedly pessimistic understandings of the final stage of our life.

          In the third part certain concrete and realistic problems of the elderly, especially of the Clerics and the Religious, were stated. The point made is that it is the very nature of old age to have these abnormalities. If the adult norms of today are applied to the behavioural patterns of the old, they are abnormal in many ways. Then what about the childish pranks and mischiefs of children? It is normal for children to behave in the way they do. It is taken for granted. “They are the future,” we say. But what about the old? If they were to live according to the norms of the youth and the ‘adults’, they would look not only abnormal but also ludicrous. The rapidly growing percentage of the old people will make us consider them ‘normally abnormal’ in the sense that they are very different from the adults or the middle-aged, with all their ‘normal abnormalities.’ As quoted earlier, Jung would say that the presence of the aged, especially in growing numbers, is a great service to people of other age groups to be fully human.

          I have focused on our final destiny in terms of ‘Life of Resurrection’ and ‘The Kingdom of God’. Will it lead us to the escapist spirituality of the early Church? In order to avoid this danger, I have emphasized that Life in the Kingdom of God or the Risen Life is not a press-button reality. We grow in the Life of Resurrection and the image of the Risen Christ will grow in us. It is a process. Entry into the Kingdom, with its “already-not-yet” dimensions, is also a process. Understood in this way, focusing on our final destiny can make the life of the elderly more dynamic, joyful and hopeful. “In my estimation, all that we suffer in the present time is nothing in comparison with the glory which is destined to be disclosed for us” (Rom 8: 18).

        The suggested exercises are just a few samples. Since the Religious and the Clerics are accustomed to these types of exercises, they may add to these insights and improve upon what is given. These exercises can make our life very valuable even after retirement.

 The End