The Sage-ing^® Guild

Thomas, William H. What Are Old People For? How Elders Will Save the World. Vanderwyk & Burnham, 2004. ISBN 1889242209. Reviewed by Pat Hoertdoerfer.

Building on previous book titles—Why Survive? by Robert Butler and What Are People For? by Wendell Berry—Thomas titled his book in respect and gratitude to these authors whose writings have influenced the course of his work and writing. The themes of this book are drawn from biology, mythology, sociology, and philosophy, but the author's writing style is that of a compassionate physician. The book's primary message is that there is a new old age waiting to be discovered in our society and there are new maps to explore this new world.

In the chapter Necessity's Virtue, Thomas answers the title question. He writes that without old age, humans (Homo sapiens) would have been confined to the typical mammalian pattern of two-generation social structure. With our longevity, we enlarge the range of human possibility and create a complex web of relationships that brings unprecedented benefits to the community as a whole. The social role of an " elder of the community" is an extension of the family-specific role of grandparent. By translating the core elements of grandparenting from the biological to the cultural sphere, elders are creating explosive cultural change. Elders communicate life's meaning and core values through cross-generational transmission as shown in the diagram below.

The cycle of cultural evolution*

1. Support adults provide to elders
2. Assistance elders give to adults
3. Gentling and acculturation of children by elders
4. Assistance and affection given to elders by children
5. Participation in work of adults by children
6. Food, shelter, clothing, and affection provided to children by adults

In creating new maps for the way we live now, Thomas defines the thread of human experience as DOING-being and BEING-doing.* He writes that human life experience is a fusion of BEING and DOING. One of the freedoms offered by modern society according to Thomas is that we are entitled to adjust and readjust the proportion of DOING and BEING that suits us best. He uses the image of a ribbon as the fabric of human experience. One edge of the ribbon holds experiences that are defined mostly by doing rather than being. The other edge of the ribbon holds experiences that are defined primarily by being rather than doing. The middle of the ribbon holds experiences in which the two are in balance. Moment by moment our experience finds a place somewhere on this continuum.

Thomas continues by defining the 5 ages of the contemporary life cycle:

1. In childhood the preference for BEING over doing persists.
2. In adolescence the transition is characterized by the choice (almost daily) between the comfort of childhood BEING and the excitement of adulthood DOING.
3. Adulthood is obsessed with DOING—tasks and schedules, payments, obligations, and the jobs that need to be done.
4. Senescence (term for the transition " growing into old age") cares mostly about relationships and letting go of the comfortable/familiar DOING to reaching out to a new BEING.
5. Elderhood offers a richness that can only be characterized by the experience of BEING.

A contemporary human life cycle*

Since turning age 65 myself, I recognize the challenge of elderhood as the time to discover inner richness for self-development and spiritual growth. In growing our soul, we elders must face our mortality and that is just as important as preparation for a career or family. It is from this time of inner growth that elders become sages, healers, and mentors of the generations to follow.

In exploring the paradigm shift in aging, Thomas articulates the changes from the traditional aging model (old age is both a blessing and a burden) to the current antiaging model (old age is unnecessary) to the shift to the developmental aging model (elderhood is difficult but so is all of life). He defines the transition from the traditional aging model (care for the aged is a family responsibility) to the current antiaging model (perpetual youth will eliminate the problem of caring for the aged) to the shift to the developmental aging model (there is an ancient and dynamic exchange that goes on between elders and their families and communities).* Final chapters of the book describe new directions in elder care ranging from Eldertopia to The Green House to Shahbazim.

I highly recommend this book to congregations for elder empowerment circles, for intergenerational discussions on aging and elderhood, for advocacy in new alternatives in elder care, and for innovative models of peacemaking and wisdom-giving mentorship. Let us celebrate the Unitarian Universalist elders in our congregations and envision a new future for the elders in our communities.

*Excerpted with permission from What Are Old People For? by William H Thomas. All rights reserved.