Widening Circles

“I live my life in widening circles …” This line by the poet Rainer Maria Rilke was a prompt recently for Sympara’s writing group, Aging for the Common Good. In its third year, the program engages older adults across the United States in six-week sessions where we reflect on identity, explore experiences of loss and discovery, and consider the role of elders in navigating change. The latest group focused on the theme "The Poetry of Aging." The weekly prompts were lines from modern poets: Rilke, May Sarton, Theodore Roethke, and Denise Levertov. Their words, and the short essays they drew out of the participants, are about more than the reality of aging. The group considered what this stage of life means for individuals and for an aging society. What are the gifts we might yet fully realize and share with others?

You might wonder, why does a sacred/civic placemaker convene older adults to reflect on aging? As we repurpose underutilized religious properties for social impact, the congregations we engage are made up primarily of older people. Congregations call that composition a liability. “If we could only attract some younger families” is the oft-repeated line. Of course, religious culture gets its view of aging from the wider culture, which says growth is for younger people and decline for older people; or trumpets innovation as the brand-new that comes about in spite of older adults, i.e., in spite of their intransigence, rigidity, or death grip.

Sympara has a different view. We like to quote the pioneering urbanist and activist Jane Jacobs, who wrote, “Old ideas can sometimes use new buildings. New ideas must use old buildings.” The corollary is true: Old ideas sometimes need younger people. New ideas always need older people. Innovation, as we understand it, begins with appreciation of what, and who, is already present.

So here’s our conviction: A sustainable future depends on how we leverage the experiences of older adults. The common good requires the gifts of aging.

In our work, we step into rooms of older adults and smile at the blessing, for older adults are the vanguard of a revolution to reimagine not just sacred space but spiritual community. Through Sympara’s discernment processes, older adults discover a new vocation: to steward property for others, for the creation of new communities across lines of difference, with neighbors of other faith traditions and no religious affiliation, for the flourishing of everyone.

So here’s our request: If you share Sympara’s conviction, we need your financial support. A gift of $25 can be transformative, covering the cost of one writing group session for an older adult. A gift of $100 makes it possible for a clergyperson or lay leader to join one of our upcoming training sessions on sacred/civic placemaking. A gift of $500 enables Sympara to conduct an initial consultation with a congregation about the possibilities for repurposing.

Please give whatever you can.

And know that your gift will lead to more life — life in old buildings, life amid death, life in widening circles.

— Daniel Pryfogle, Cofounder and CEO