Robert Atwell is the Catholic bishop of Stockport, England, near the border of Wales. His experiences as a chaplain at Trinity College, as a Benedictine monk, and as a parish minister have served him well. The evidence is in this top-drawer examination of the challenges of the last quarter of life. Atwell shares the wisdom that has come with spiritual maturity and his yearning for going deeper into God.
Retirement used to signal a smooth and comfortable transition into a life of leisure and world travel. Now for many, it is a transition fraught with anxiety and fear over not having enough money. Others at this stage of life enjoy the large role they are playing in the lives of their grandchildren.
Atwell sees our "Third Age" as a time of freedom, abundance, many choices and a Renaissance of creativity and wonder. He dismisses boredom as "the great disease of the Western world." He shares this vignette:
"At a party I tried to offer an elderly lady a second glass of wine. 'Don't worry about me,' said Lotta, 'I don't need the alcohol. I get sloshed on people.' She had no time to be bored because she was interested in life and people, and delighted in them."
Atwood cherishes memory as "the matrix of our identity" and sharing the stories of our lives as one of the major pleasures of the last quarter. He states that contentment should be the crowning glory our lives but often it isn't. He suggests we feed this stream with gratitude, joy, the providence of God, and the prayer of protest.
