Old Age as Compression of One's Focus

 I am coming to believe that as one ages, the world seems to contract and one's focus narrows. One may not see it as broadly, but one sees it more intensely. Lord, may my focus become so compressed that all I see is You.

<Time contracts slowly, painfully, surely, like the rusty vise at my workbench. But to nurture fear is mostly pointless, and the human spirit, when functioning properly, seeks the bright. So, I keep in mind the wonderment my old man expressed that one night at the crescent moon. Really, how fine, to feel that you’ve witnessed something new and amazing at age 96!>


https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/sep/29/ageing-dementia-paranoid


MM, my friend, commented,

The biggest frame of this is simply Loss for the Second Half of Life. No children now at home, retiring, losing job identity, downsizing, retirement income, health demands (including dementia, vision loss, arthritis, endurance & energy, etc.)

R Rohr says the first half of life is building and working to acquire a framework for life. The send half he says is interior, deep spiritual focus. Much of that interior focus is about loss and therefore needing to define eternal meaning.