Vessels of Love- Poems and Prayers for the Later Years of Life By Joyce Rupp

 Vessels of Love-

Poems and Prayers for the Later Years of Life

By Joyce Rupp

Poetic love-wisdom from a Christian spiritual master.

Book Review by Sun Spirituality AYINRIN 

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It is always a delight to have a new book by Joyce Rupp, profiled in our Living Spiritual Teachers Project. Sister Joyce writes from a Christian perspective but with the most generous and broad approach one can find among Christian spiritual masters. Those that Rupp quotes in these poems and prayers include Cynthia Bourgeault, Ilia Delio, Susan Moon, and Maya Angelou.

Rupp has recently turned 81 and remains active through Boundless Compassion, the organization she founded, where she still teaches and leads retreats. For decades Rupp’s mission has been to create communities of people committed to living and bringing compassion into the world.

This book is about becoming a “vessel of love,” which also means it is about respect for others, learning how to lessen the suffering of others, and how to be intentional about encouraging others to live with compassion and love. Rupp writes in ways that will appeal most of all to older people, with short opening chapters titled “Accepting the Life I Now Have,” “Always Room for Gratitude,” and “Befriending Physical Change.”

There are also prayers and poems on subjects such as caregiving in the final years and what Rupp calls “the gates of elderhood.” Those gates, in fact, are twelve total, and each is represented by a prayer – written by Rupp in the form of a statement of blessing – for example:

“Gate of Wisdom

I stand at the gate of Wisdom, realizing how much I have learned from the highs and lows over the years. I value the insights and meaning I have gained from these fluctuating transitions.”

Poems comprise the last third of the book, and their subject matter is similar to the prayers. Most are two pages in length and include gratitude, praise, questions, and affirmations of God’s love. In all, they continue to speak most profoundly to aging people, such as “The Gate of Letting Go” that begins with these four lines:

“My final departure from this life inches closer,

the elderhood years are gaining velocity;

what can I do to prepare more completely

for the hospitality promised with my last breath?”

We recommend this book highly to anyone who has benefited from Joyce Rupp’s wisdom in the past and wants to see clearly how to live with love and compassion in the final third of life.

TRY A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE ON LOVE

Go Deeper:

Practicing Spirituality with Joyce Rupp: An e-course of poems, prayers, and practices for everyday life.