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105 pages

English

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Have you ever wished you had written a book about your conversations with a colleague or close friend? Did you ever want to share your dreams or deeply held beliefs? In "First Fridays", you are invited to listen to the engaging and thought-provoking conversations between two gentlemen in their later years. Hear the emotion in their voices, the vulnerability in their ideas, and the other-worldly connections that they have experienced. Go deeply with them into your own inner psyche and tap into your own beliefs and feelings.

Sujets

Fridays

Biography

Spirituality

Autobiography

Informations

Publié par	Xlibris US
Date de parution	30 septembre 2022
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781669847533
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0200€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

FIRST FRIDAYS

Conversations about Spirituality in Later Life

Dick Hattan

Copyright © 2022 by Dick Hattan.
Library of Congress Control Number:
2022917859
ISBN:
Hardcover
978-1-6698-4755-7

Softcover
978-1-6698-4754-0

eBook
978-1-6698-4753-3

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 09/29/2022

Xlibris
844-714-8691
www.Xlibris.com
842449
CONTENTS
Foreword
Introduction
1Sacred Grounds
2Meeting Under the Tent
First Fridays
3October 2018 – First Meeting
4November 2018 – Efficacy of Prayer
5December 2018 – Healing
6January 2019 – The Shaman
7February 2019 – Giving Back
8March 2019 – Ethiopian Harrar
9April 2019 – Discernment
10May 2019 – Dreams
11June 2019 – Lifelong Goal
12July 2019 – Divine Messages
13August 2019 – Interactive Dreams
14September 2019 – Retreat
15September 2019 – Moral Injury
16November 2019 – Art as Prayer
17December 2019 – Vulnerability
18January 2020 – Caregiving
19February 2020 – Black and White Photos
20March 2020 – Question and Answer
21April 2020 – More Q&A
22May 2020 – Biblical Icons
23June 2020 – Charlotte’s Porch
24July 2020 – Riverview Park
25August 2020 – Importance of Practice
26September 2020 – Old Friends
27October 2020 – Listening
28November 2020 – Kingdom of Heaven
29December, 2020 – Dignity
30January 2021 – Reconciliation
31February 2021 – Phone Call
32April 2021 – Absalom Jones Place
33May 2021 – A Phone Call
34June 2021 – The Final First Friday
35July 2021 – Last Conversation
36The Next Day
37Postmortem
38Easter Sunday
New Forms of Spirituality
39Beekeeping
40Storytelling
41Memoir
42Travel
43Loss
44A New First Friday
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
Bibliography
About the Author

To the memory of my friend Bill, whose inquisitive mind and gentle soul served as an inspiration for the many stories included in this work.

Don’t ask what the world n eeds.
Ask what makes you come a live.
And go do it. Because what the
world needs is people who have
come a live.
—HOWARD THU RMAN
FOREWORD
I considered it a distinct privilege when my friend of many years, Dick Hattan, asked me to read and comment on his new book, First Fridays. His first book, Invisible Scars of War: A Veteran’s Struggle with Moral Injury, was both enjoyable and instructive since I have talked with many returning Vietnam veterans who were reluctant to answer my questions. The pain was simply too great. Dick answered many of those questions and, more importantly, gave me a chance to peer into his soul.
I have known Dick for over fifty years, so I was enthusiastic about the opportunity to gaze further into that personality that is always searching for a way to get closer to what he defines as the “truth.” First Fridays is the story of a journey undertaken by two older men of faith and their search for meaning in their aging, changing worlds. The search for meaning is a need of all individuals, but few of us have the time or the courage to embark on this quest alone. Few of us are blessed to find someone willing to be open enough with us, to be sufficiently vulnerable with us, to make the travel worthwhile.
Paul was such a man, and Dick was lucky enough to have reached new dimensions in his life and to have found this fellow traveler. Martin Buber described this concept of true friendship as the exchange between “I and Thou.”
Beyond the mandatory introductions, the reader will be rewarded with the wonderful exchange between two intelligent, inquisitive minds who, in their older years, have determined to search for more in their lives. What they found was more meaning, more purpose, and more understanding. We, the readers, reap the rewards of listening to their questions and their hesitant answers. Sometime the search is in prose, sometime in poetry, but we quickly discover that the value exists in the journey itself.
I say, without hesitation, that the most surprising and interesting chapters of the book are the dream sequences where Dick believes that he is communicating with his deceased maternal grandfather, his father, or his friend Paul. One might have difficulty believing these dream sequences, but I suggest that you accept, as I have, the sincerity of the author, no matter how you choose to interpret the phenomena.
I was delighted to read how the author has discovered new ways to experience spirituality. Through beekeeping, traveling, storytelling and his deep sense of personal loss, he manifests himself as both a teacher and servant to his readers.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book from cover to cover. These series of meetings between two friends in the later years of their lives, will give you the opportunity to know an extraordinary individual who has had some wonderful experiences that he is willing to share. I believe you will find this book a rewarding and fascinating excursion into the mesmerizing conversations of two very special men.
Michael B. Mann
INTRODUCTION
The mirror doesn’t lie. The face staring back at me is deeply lined. A head of white hair caps the top of my head and layers of chin prop up my face. My wallet bulges with proof of my age securing my Medicare Health Insurance card and Veterans Administration Identification card. The veins in my hands stand out like tunnels creeping over and above my knuckles. These and other physical manifestations of living a lengthy life certify me as an older adult, a senior citizen, an elder statesman.
I untied the shackles of employment two years ago when a corporate merger put me on a gentle slide into retirement. I didn’t go willingly, but a generous new employer allowed me to transition through a series of part-time assignments, allowing me to select my ultimate date of departure from the working world. I was one of the last of my peers to retire not privileged to own a generous pension but with the good fortune to possess good health and leave a job I enjoyed to the last day.
Moving into older adulthood has been a process, a series of bumps in the road and choices made as my daily schedule unfolded and opportunities presented themselves. The COVID-19 pandemic played a large role as my employment came to an end with a move to working from home, attending meetings by Zoom, and writing grant proposals instead of meeting personally with major gift donors and prospects.
Looking back, I have noticed how my life has changed along with how I view my life. In my sixties, I began scrutinizing my military experience as a soldier in the US Army. I was stationed in Vietnam with the 101 st Airborne Division after having been selected by the military draft in 1970. In my memoir Invisible Scars of War, A Veteran’s Struggle with Moral Injury , I retold the story of my anxiety and fear of participating in an immoral war. I suffered a moral injury, a wound in my soul caused by my participation in something that was wrong and sinful. I hadn’t thought about this for over forty years, but as I entered older adulthood, I needed to come to grips with this ethical dilemma. Writing the memoir was extremely therapeutic, acting to cleanse my soul of the guilt and shame I had carried for so many years. Marketing it at bookstores, libraries, and small groups helped me articulate my feelings and speak out risking the public criticism from those who disagreed with my position on the war.
As I wrote the memoir, I began to discover and awaken a new type of spirituality that would accompany me and form me into an esteemed elder. The interesting thing about this was it wasn’t intentional but rather a gradual unfolding of new perspectives on established beliefs, of pouring new wine into new wineskins.
I found these new ways of approaching life were only available to me as I punched the ticket of becoming an elder. A busy life building a career, raising a family, and pursuing a theological education prohibited me from engaging in these other noble pursuits well suited for someone seasoned with many years of perspective.
I came to realize what I was experiencing was the process of looking at life through a different lens, the lens of an older adult. The trend of increased spiritual growth becomes a priority in the lives of elders as longevity creates uncharted territory in our culture. However, society tends to ignore the contribution of older adults by overlooking their talents and contributions in hiring and community service in favor of younger people. The role of the elder in so