The Rapture of Maturity: A Legacy of Lifelong Learning

Like great plays, movies, and novels, our lives tend to reveal their meaning with greater clarity near the end. To get it right, we must apply artistry and the wisdom of experience to our final chapters. With The Rapture of Maturity, lifelong learning advocate Charles D. Hayes reminds adults in the September of their days that they have one last chance to matter as human beings. What will people say of you when you are gone? What do you wish they would say?

What really matters when your own mortality looms on the horizon? Will future generations be better off because of you? Hayes reminds us that as long as we are alive these are open questions. By continuing to examine our values, our motivations, and our common beliefs, by exploring issues beyond the superficial level of popular culture, and by teaching our grandchildren to do the same, older adults can demonstrate to younger generations that we truly have something going for us after all. The Rapture of Maturity affirms the joys of discovery and insight that accompany thoughtful reflection on our years of lived experience and a pursuit of deeper understanding. It encourages the kind of thinking that can transform human relations on a global scale. Rapture is the reward of living authentically and acting deliberately to leave the world a better place than we found it. For those who seek such a goal, this book is indispensable.

This is one of those rare books that one only realizes, after it gets written, how desperately needed it was. At a time when self-help books for the boomers are both endemic and anemic, this one is a trumpet blast of authenticity, courage, and useable erudition. -- --Ronald Gross, author of The Lifelong Learner and Socrates' Way; Chairman, Columbia University Seminar on Innovation

A wonderful intellectual journey through the author's own lived experiences as well as some timeless scholarly works on the mysteries of human existence... This book will appeal to adults of all ages who are seeking a mature existence in an otherwise superficial world. -- --James Cote, author of Arrested Adulthood: The Changing Nature of Maturity and Identity

An exquisitely thoughtful book, always provocative, wise beyond words. Mr. Hayes has a lovely spirit and strong insights into the springs of personal power. My highest recommendation. ---- John Taylor Gatto, former New York Teacher of the Year; author of The Underground History of American Education