Susan Carol Scott

In 1965, while in college at Bucknell University, I volunteered as a friendly visitor at a local nursing home. Weekly, I hunkered down with a retired coal miner, a woman who'd rolled cigars all her life, and a former butcher. That's when I first came to appreciate the gift in listening to the hard-earned wisdom and life stories of people four times my age. A gift for them and for me!

In 1991, after getting an Mdiv. at Princeton Theological Seminary, I became a pastor in the United Church of Christ. Over time, I trained as a health care chaplain, serving in nursing homes and then hospice. Once again, I found myself listening to those who were now twice my age. With the benefit of the long view back, they taught me much about what was most important in life. These elders modeled spiritual resiliency in situations of increasing limits and losses. Their comments and reflections were inspiring, sometimes amusing, and smacked of the refreshing honesty that can be risked when there's nothing left to lose.

In 2016, when my mother, Betty, was in a nursing home, she said: "there ought to be a devotional resource that speaks to those in my situation." Her comment reminded me that members of the small groups I'd led in the nursing homes, had expressed a hope that their ideas might find their way to publication. Thus, each meditation in this book springs from the thoughts, feelings, and ideas of older persons. Like my mother, these souls were experiencing the rigors of life's later season, yet they still sought and discovered rich spiritual meaning and a continuing sense of vocation. May these meditations be a helpful resource to anyone of any age who is dealing with unchosen changes in their life and remind them that they are not alone.