Journey Into Old Age

With all the hype about the latest phenomenon at the movie box office – the retelling of the story of the Odyssey – I went back to look again at a workshop that I had developed which involved the story of Odysseus.  The workshop is based on the work of Helen Luke in her study of the journey into old age which draws on a number of classic stories.  Luke’s writing on this subject is found in her book – Old Age; Journey Into Simplicity.  I would like to share the workshop material with you.  The material is too lengthy for this venue, so, over the next three week I will share one of the three sections of the material which deals with Odyseus’ journey into old age. 

Introduction

 

I shall say no more except that I already told you many years ago of the alternative journey you are now called to take – a journey which does indeed lie on the slopes of that mountain but holds no fame or glory for you; only loneliness and sadness.  The choice is yours.  Will you deceive yourself as Dante’s Ulysses did in a sin far worse than the deceit of the Trojan horse? (Old Age 12)

 

These words of the poet Teiresias, the blind poet, imagined by Helen Luke, to Odysseus resting from his toils and trials of youth, sum up the choice which all of us must make when we face the journey into old age.  Are we truly to continue ‘grow old’; to continue to grow in psychic maturity or will we simply succumb to the aging process – sinking perhaps not gently into that perceived not so sweet night fighting that inevitable journey every step of the way.

 

Helen Luke examines this journey as presented in some of the great heroes of literature who made that journey of growth rather than relentlessly sinking into old age.  In Old Age, Journey into Simplicity, Helen Luke examines the hero’s journey into Old Age presented in essays on classical works; The Odyssey by Homer, The Tempest and King Lear by Shakespeare, and Little Gidding by T.S. Elliot.  I will draw on two of these works for this workshop; The Odyssey and Little Gidding.

 

Section 1

 

Let us begin our exploration of old age as a state that we are approaching or have reached by first looking at Eliot’s thoughts on the subject.  Helen Luke identifies three ‘gifts reserved for age’ which Eliot has revealed (92):

 

First, changes which take place in our bodies, as our bodies age into maturity.  These can be sudden changes due to a loss of physical health.  Our bodies may begin to betray us.  We can no longer do as much or do things as well as we once could.  However, often it is a gradual lessening of energy in its different forms, which comes to us through the senses.  Our sight becomes dimmer and we need glasses for reading.  Our hearing becomes less acute, and we may need hearing aids to comprehend what people are saying to us.  Our taste, smell and even touch become dull as do those other things that give us pleasure.  What lies ahead is the prospect of an ever-diminishing horizon of the physical world. The ego depends on imaginings of future achievements.  We of necessity turn to the present moment for our satisfaction.  As Luke notes, the Self lives in and for the present.

 

Second, the helpless rage at the folly of people and the laughter at things in which there is no humour.  We see the folly of those in political power whose only concern is reelection and the things which will ensure that.  We see the arrogance and greed of business leaders and politicians who are enthralled to the acquisition of money and power.  We see idealism turn into intolerance.  Growing Old gives us the opportunity to find the place beyond rage, which is true compassion, and joy in all creation. 

 

Third, there is the gift of memories.  As we grow old, we are able to see the past with true humility and see what were once triumphs of the ego at the expense of others.  As Luke says, “the hypocrisy of the ego always at bottom (is) concerned with its own merit and comfort, and most dangerously of all, its own spiritual merit. 

 

Exercise: select one of these gifts which resonates with you most at this time.  Do you see this as a gift or as something less positive?  Has your understanding and perception of this gift changed in your life? 

 

I will continue with this theme next week.