Fear & Guilt

There is no panacea, but there are a lot of people out there who are really tired of the fear and the guilt, and they’re especially tired in old age, now that they no longer have the power, tired of bring told by the world, by their kids and grandkids and doctors, and by the politicians and the pastors and everybody else, that they’re wrong to be feeling the way they are, they’re wrong to want to leave, they’re wrong to be tired of this world. “That’s unhealthy,’ they say. “We need to help to help you in your last years hold onto as much of your intelligence and your optimism as possible.” This just makes it worse. The more people hear this, the more they close up, because they find that the more that they’re honest about what they’re feeling, the more the world comes down on them.

I'm not setting out to attack any group, because every group has its purpose, including the churches and politics, but not everybody needs that all their life. Lots of us, just by the grace of God and by virtue of the fact that we’re been around for a long time, have found that we can break free from those institutions and live even more joyful and adventuresome lives.

Joseph Campbell talked a lot about the adventure of life, and how we lose that sense early on, because all of these people are telling us that we’re not supposed to be going through life looking to have fun and adventure. We have to be disciplined, and we have to learn the rules, and we have to fit in, and we have to contribute to society, and we can’t be like the grasshopper, just playing through the summer of life.

I would like to reassure people that we don’t have to do anything, that God is taking care of it. And one of the things that he’s taken care of is that near the end of the journey we’re finally in a position to appreciate retirement and freedom and not having to go by everybody else’s rules.