“EDUCATION gives us knowledge. Experience gives us wisdom . . . but only if we reflect on it.” This is the key to older age, according to the prolific author Margaret Silf.
Her own reflections touch upon slowing down, letting go, gifts characteristic of older people, learning interdependence, accepting disempowerment, openness to mystery, and the acceptance of mortality.
There is much wisdom here, with prompts for further thinking. This is “spirituality” in the popular sense that focuses on our inner values and personal growth rather than on God, prayer, and worship, which are barely mentioned — although she does drop a promising hint: “Are there any aspects of your faith practice that you now feel the need to move on from?”
The writing is conversational and anecdotal, and short traditional stories play a part in each chapter. Everyday features are frequently co-opted as symbols — “Imagine yourself as a tree.” This can get a bit relentless — “The humble butterfly has much to teach us here” — and, at times, is simply banal — “The stile may seem like an unwelcome obstruction, but in fact is the gateway to a whole new field of understanding.”
In a revealing aside, the author mentions that she has “spent much of my earlier life with people who were overly negative”. I wondered whether this lay behind her tone of reassurance, and the arm-round-the-shoulder feeling that the constant use of “we” conveys.
“Let us stand tall,” she concludes, “. . . creating the flowers of all Earth’s tomorrows.” There is, I confess, something about this gentle book which makes me want to misbehave.
The Revd Philip Welsh is a retired priest in the diocese of London
The Wisdom Years: A spirituality of ageing
Margaret Silf
DLT £14.99
(978-1-915412-76-8)
Church Times Bookshop £13.49
