In one of his chapters [7] he speaks of foreseeing the great questions of the passage of life. Interestingly, he couches this discussion in the context of lessons for worship leaders who plan and lead worship for a multi-aged congregation. He considers it important for that worship planner/leader to give consideration to the variant frames of reference of his or her worshippers.
His supposition: "As the questions change, so does the content (and perhaps the form) of our spiritual interests." (p.50) Then, he extrapolates to help that worship planner/leader as they prepare for this monumental task.
The life questions of twenty-somethings
- What kind of man or woman am I becoming?
- How am I different from my mother or father?
- Where can I find a few friends who will welcome me as I am and who will offer the familylike connections that I need [or never had]?
- Can I love, and am I loveable?
- What will I do with my life?
- What is it that I really want in exchange for my life's labors?
- What parts of me and my life need correction?
- Around what person or conviction will I organize my life?
The life questions of thirty-somethings
- How do I prioritize the demands being made on my life?
- How far can I go in fulfilling my sense of purpose?
- Because these folks are so busy getting life's routines established, there is little growing recognition that one's primary community is changing. The friends of youth have gone off in different directions - some married, some single and some perhaps to other parts of the world! Therefore: Who are the people with whom I walk through life?
- Spiritual questions no longer center on the ideals of youth but on the realities of a life that is tough and unforgiving. Life's requirements offer little time for contemplation and spiritual revitalization. Therefore: What does my spiritual life look like? Do I even have time for one?
- There can also be a nagging thought: Why am I not a better person?
The life questions of forty-somethings
- The complexities of life further accelerate - and this is worrisome. We are expected to handle the bumps and bruises of life with an unshakeable courage. Panic and fear are for the younger and older, but in the forties the expectation is that one is solid. Therefore: Who was I as a child, and what powers back then influence the kind of person I am today?
- Why do some people seem to be doing better than I?
- Why am I often disappointed with myself and others?
- Why are limitations beginning to outnumber options?
- The forties can be dangerous. Bodies change. Children become independent, even begin to leave home. Marriages have to be readjusted to face new realities. Some enjoy financial leverage while others wonder if they'll ever be financially secure. Some give up the struggle and try to go backward in hopes of retrieving earlier pleasures. Therefore: Why do I seem to face so many uncertainties?
- What can I do to make a greater contribution to my generation?
- What would it take to pick up a whole new calling in life and do the thing I've always wanted to do?
The life questions of fifty-somethings
- Fifty somethings begin to realize that they have moved across life's middle. Now one finds him/herself wondering how many years are left. The news of friends dying, marriages dissolving, and people moving to places of retirement increase. It is a time for sober thinking. Therefore: Why is time moving so fast?
- Why is my body becoming unreliable?
- How do I deal with my failures and my successes?
- How can my spouse and I reinvigorate our relationship now that the children are gone?
- Who are these young people who want to replace me at work?
- What do I do with my doubts and fears?
- Will we have enough money for the retirement years if there are health problems or economic downturns?
The life questions of sixty-somethings
- When do I stop doing the things that have always defined me?
- Why do I feel ignored by a large part of the younger population?
- Why am I curious about who is listed in the obituary column of the paper, how they died, and what kinds of lives they lived?
- Do I have enough time to do all the things I've dreamed about in the past?
- Who will be around me when I die?
- If married, which one of us will go first, and what is it like to say good-bye to someone with whom you have shared so many years of life?
- Are the things I've believed in capable of taking me to the end?
- Is there really life after death?
- What do I regret?
- What are the chief satisfactions of these many years of living?
- What have I done that will outlive me?
The life questions of those in their seventies, eighties and nineties...
- Does anyone realize, or even care, who I once was?
- Is anyone aware that I once owned (or managed) a business, threw a mean curve ball, taught school, possessed a beautiful solo voice, had an attractive face?
- Is my story important to anyone?
- How much of my life can I still control?
- Is there anything I can still contribute?
- Why this anger and irritability?
- Is God really there for me?
- Am I ready to face death?
- When I die (how will it happen?), will I be missed, or will the news of my death bring relief?
- Heaven? What is it like?
It seems to me that those of us who populate churches might be better friends and neighbors if we periodically re-acquainted ourselves with these life questions. Just saying...
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