10 books and booklets on retirement and old age 5, 6

1. Finishing our course with joy is a swansong from Jim Packer. It is a gentle but well grounded call to older people (younger, middle and oldest) to think wisely about their situation. We have an opportunity, a maturity, hopefully a humility and an intensity that can be a grat asset to the church he asserts. (PS The subheading on the cover is a misspelling). Quotes - "Still taking their cue from the world around, modern Western churches organize occupations, trips, parties, and so forth for their seniors and make pastoral provision for the shut-ins, but they no longer look to these folks as they do to the rest of the congregation to find, feed, and use their spiritual gifts. In this they behave as though spiritual gifts and ministry skills wither with age. But they don't; what happens, rather, is that they atrophy with disuse. ... to think of Christian retirees as exempt from the twin tasks ... learning and leading just 'cause they don't inhabit the world of wage andsalary earning ... and for aging Christians to think of themselves this way, as if they have no more to do ... than have fun is worldliness in a strikingly intense and ...foolish form!
2. A good old age by Derek Prime approaches the subject of old age in an unusual, perhaps quirky, way. After a short introduction, he provides us with a series of 26 meditations and prayers (often including a hymn) that explore the subject in a helpful and stimulating way. There is repetion but that is not a problem as we need reminders. The subjects are acceptance, believe, contentment, discipleship, encourage, the fear of God, godliness, hope, intercession, joy, knowledge, love, meditate, non-judgmental, etc. For X he has the X-factor - the atonement. Inevitably, he finishes with zeal. Much of it could be said to any Christian but it is tailored for the mature one and would be useful to look at on a daily basis. Gentle but searching.