‘Elderhood’ and Sabbath Rest as Vocation: Identity, Purpose, & Belonging

Recognizing the challenges associated with aging in western culture and its particular vulnerability to despair, this paper turns to an Augustinian theological anthropology in conjunction with Geriatrician Louise Aronson’s social and medical description of aging among the human life stages. With Aronson, an Augustinian anthropology critiques western assumptions that autonomy, self-determination, and productivity are the primary arbiters of value. Instead, an aging anthropology marked by dependent participation, meaning found through purpose aimed at Sabbath rest, and an identity held secure through communal belonging serves as an antidote to the challenges of modern aging that ends in worship and hope.