GRACE

At around mid-meal in the large dining room of well over 150 diners, there was the gentle tinkling of a bell. In the silence that quickly followed a woman stepped to the microphone to lead Grace:

“According to the calendar of feasts at Lindisfarne, this is the feast of Michael the Archangel. And so today, instead of our usual model for prayer, I wonder if we might look at one another around our tables

“Reflect with gratitude for a moment on the way in which we are angels to one another. To each angel we say, ‘Thank you.’

“And then, let’s look at the staff nearest us, holding them with gratitude in our hearts for the many angelic tasks they perform for us. And together we say, ‘Thank you.’

“And to the God who gives us life and love, we say thank you.”

This was the scene in the dining room of Pilgrim Place a continuing care retirement community in Claremont, California with a unique history and spirit. In 1915 Pilgrim Place was established as a residence for foreign missionaries of the Congregational Church upon their return from China. Today residency at Pilgrim Place still requires of its residents that essential quality of having spent at least part of one’s life in ministry or ministries of service. The result is an amazing community with a breadth and depth of diversity of life experiences, yet holding in common a life of faith-based service.

It is so obvious from the first encounter with a Pilgrim (What a wonderful description of the persons who live here!) that life in this retirement community is filled with continuing service reflected, among other ways, in a deep sense of Christian community. Remember the hymn from the 60s, “They Will Know We Are Christians by Our Love”

Pilgrim Place brochures describe the campus as one where “Christian leaders” come “to continue their lifelong commitment to service and outreach while exploring new opportunities for personal growth and learning.” And in another place in the same brochure, “Pilgrim Place is an intentional community where persons come to live, grow, learn and extend their Christian commitment to service within the community and the world.”

At the noon meal I experienced the intentional community; in conversations I learned from the Pilgrims at my table about their involvement in issues that involve life here on the campus as well as issues that hold a global impact for justice.

There is much for me to mull over as I spend another day and a half here.  What applications are obvious for other retirement communities comprised of individuals who have spent their life in faith-based service?  Is there a different view of aging in this community, following from its commitment to intentional community, to a commitment to continue to grow and learn, and to extend service within the community and the world? Does such a vision result in a deeper experience of purpose and meaning in our later years?