Posted November 5, 2014 Book: In This Life: Spiritual Growth and Aging Author: Leo E. Missinne Liguori Press, Liguori, Missouri, 2014. Pp. 111 An Excerpt from the Jacket: "Life belongs to the order of mystery," says Leo E. Missinne, an expert on spirituality and aging, "and only a thoughtful attitude permits access to mysteries." Throughout In This Life: Spiritual Growth and Aging, Missinne shows you how to discover --- or rediscover --- meaning in your life. He will help you reflect with purpose and turn your focus from the choice and circumstances that helped to create your present to the possibilities before you. An Excerpt from the Book: Passivity is also receptivity: it is an attitude open before all that life and others can bring to us. Thus we should not close ourselves off to the attention, the warmth, and the comprehension we can give to others. We should, rather, remain available for all those privileged and significant moments of certain encounters or profound affection. This time of life offers so many possibilities and opportunities. Let's be able to welcome them. Monks, perhaps, let us glimpse best what this passivity comprises. American author Paul W. Jones writes in an article on spirituality that during his stay at a Trappist monastery, he realized how opposite monks are of "modern" values. He compares their spirituality to hose of elderly persons. They live against the fast-paced current, the noise-filled and agitate culture. They opt for silence and reflection. In a world of personal fulfillment, they renounce themselves. Success is not measured by wins and losses but by what is gained in both situations. They are not consumed by consumption. They do not value "information" but, rather, wisdom. In a complex culture, they invite us to look for only the necessary, and they remind us that a high level of life counts much less than the quality of life. Table of Contents: 1. In search of the meaning of life 2. Living and suffering 3. Looking for the meaning of suffering 4. Reflection on Christian spirituality in older age 5. How to develop your spirituality in old age 6. Conclusion 7. Ten Commandments for a successful old age 8. Prayers and prose