Spirituality

The Aging Process and the Search for Meaning

Listen to Dr. Holt's discussion

For all of recorded history, writers and thinkers have theorized on the connections between mortality and meaning. These lines were written in the year 630, by the Chinese poet Han Shan:

Terrible to love the lovely so,
To count your own years, to say "I'm old,"
To see a flower half-buried in leaves
And come face to face with what you are.

More recently, researchers from a variety of specialties have identified a connection between religion, spirituality, and what is sometimes described as "successful aging," a term which Duke University professor Harold G. Koenig, MD, defines in his book Aging and God as: "...how an older person feels, thinks, and acts in whatever circumstances he or she finds themselves. Successful aging is defined by crisis. Indeed, success at anything implies a barrier or problems to be overcome."

Dr. Cheryl Holt, an assistant professor of medicine with the UAB Center for Aging, says that one avenue of her research is the "meaning-making process" that happens when something stressful occurs to a person, ranging from serious illness to the aging process itself:

"A person of faith or of spiritual belief will be able to rely on that belief system, or rely on the social network surrounding it...the 'church family,' for example…as mechanisms for coping.

"We have an interview study of cancer patients, and we're finding a lot of richness in that data. Religiosity and spirituality are examined separately, where they're helping to cope through a variety of mechanisms, including prayer, Bible study, and the meaning-making experience.

"When something stressful happens to a person, whether it be coping with the aging process, or a serious illness or the loss of a job, there may be a whole meaning-making process. And particularly with our cancer group, they may be asking, 'Why did this happen to me?' But later, they move from a 'Why me?' scenario to, 'Well, maybe this happened so I'd be able to provide testimony to others…' Maybe even as a test of strength.

"It's a meaning-making process whereby people are able to make sense of life events that are stressful or difficult. There's a variety of mechanisms by which religion and spirituality help, in that process. We feel that spirituality deals more with connectedness to self, to others, maybe to a higher power. The people in our sample are saying that they gain a new perspective on life, in reaction to having been diagnosed with serious illness.

"They say things like, 'The things I used to worry about, they weren't worth worrying about.' The little things, I guess you could say. 'Not sweating the small stuff.' And maybe that brings about the wisdom that comes with aging. For those with a serious illness, perhaps that process is accelerated because the realization of one's own mortality is brought right to the forefront when you've got a Stage Four cancer, for instance.

"People say to us, 'You know what, I'm living one day at a time. I'm living life to the fullest. I'm not worrying about things I used to worry about.' That's a process that we see often.

"And it seems to be a very personal process for every individual…a personal journey. Based on the research we've done, some folks say that the stressful experience brings on an increase in their faith…an increase in their "search for the sacred," if you will. An increased personal relationship with their higher power. And that often does happen. But in terms of finding that, it's something that each person can only answer for themselves."

A downloadable audio file of Dr. Holt's article is also available.