Adventure of Ascent
In her endorsement blurb on the back cover of Adventure of Ascent: Field Notes from a Lifelong Journey, the novelist and spiritual writer Paula Huston writes that Luci Shaw, an octogenarian poet who on this occasion has tried her hand at autobiographical prose, “embodies what it means to be a fully flourishing human being.” That puts it exactly right.
In her new memoir, Shaw writes poetically, to be sure, but she’s also legitimately funny and, it seems to me, a bit mischievous. Because this is a book about aging—and at least peripherally about the inevitability of death—you could say Shaw’s winsomeness is the sugar that makes the medicine go down.
“In this book,” she writes in the early pages, “I hope to act as a scout moving into new territory and reporting back to the coming generation so that you may know what it’s like, and what to be ready for.”
Despite the book’s subtitle, I found this assortment of brief anecdotes and reflections to be not so much a summary of what she’s learned over the years (though there’s a fair amount of memory here too), but primarily what she’s learning now, today, in this stage of life—at funerals, doctor’s appointments, and conversations with grandchildren. She’s a lifelong learner, after all—an unceasing observer of the world and its quotidian mysteries, to borrow that useful term.
But here’s the thing: I don’t know how to review a book like this. There’s no clear thesis that I can perceive. There aren’t really any contestable arguments or cheap shots at the expense of others. The book is likewise devoid of Five Simple Steps for Aging with Excellence.
So rather than review it, I decided I’d simply share a selection of my seven favorite quotes. Some are lighthearted, some are more serious. But they’re all, in my estimation, quite good.
“The trouble with aging is that there’s really no remedy. In the end, no one survives it.”
“So much is wrong with the world, but so much of it is right, particularly the parts that seem to have spilled directly from the Creator’s hand!”
“If I sometimes sound cynical, bear with me. I’m fighting an existential battle against annihilation.”
“I guess we could live in a barren barn or a sparsely furnished apartment, but beauty and art feed our spirits and reflect something of Grace in our lives.”
“I’m finding that remembering God’s patience with me and my foibles assists my focus on patience with others. I expect things to be done logically and efficiently, and when they aren’t, my self-denial has to come to the fore and remember that the fact that things aren’t done my way doesn’t necessarily mean they’re done badly or wrongly or with flawed intention.”
“The forward movement of living is unstoppable, untraceable. Better make sure your decisions and actions are for the best.”
“I have glimpsed [God] in unexpected ways, and I have responded to this life I have been given with some misgivings but also real satisfaction, true hope.”