….or the lack of. It’s what happens to most of us as we grow older, our physical and mental resources lessen and we look back with astonishment at how much we were once able to do. Elizabeth MacKinley refers to this in her book on Spiritual Dimension which I am continuing to read at the moment. Her research suggests that this is a real problem for some older people but that for others it can mean a ‘turning back into themselves’, allowing them to let go of things they couldn’t change and accepting the transfer we mentioned last time from ‘doing’ to being’ – or, a better word she thinks, ‘becoming’. This is a powerful idea and makes an advantage of what otherwise could be one of things we regret about ageing.

I belong to two very different groups of older people, one of then is cerebral and the other physical. The thinkers are a seminar of the University of the Third Age. We meet every other week, Europe being the focus of our discussion and study. Most of us have had professional experience in our working life but often have very different perspectives.

Yet there are moments when we share regret at our present limitations.’ I no longer have the energy to read a long book’ someone said. And yet there are few signs amongst us of mental lethargy and, although it is never said, there is a sort of sharing of life between us that is sometimes quite moving.

The other group meets several times a week (twice for me) and consists of people who have had some sort of cardiac disorder and feel the benefit of guided exercise. We enjoy meeting each other and for some of the group there are very strong friendships that go back over the years. The oldest – and very energetic – member is eighty five, and several of us are in our seventies. Sometimes we share our health stories; it’s reassuring to know that others have been where you have been.

We admit to dragging ourselves to the hourly sessions often, but agree that we are always grateful for a discipline that helps to keep us fit. And hopeful.

Could either group be called ‘spiritual’? I guess most of the people involved would deny it. But there is something rejuvenating about both of them. In each case another sort of energy compensates for the dynamism that otherwise we have lost or are losing. Solidarity in experience and need. A new ‘becoming’, as MacKinlay suggests?

Bryan