GREAT THINGS LEFT TO DO

This past summer, Time Magazine ran a story about a 68-year old Nepalese man who decided to go back to high school for his degree.  This man, Durga Kami, walks over six miles each day round trip to be a tenth grader.  Life busied Durga up with many things over the decades, but a dream persisted: to pursue education, and to get his high school degree.  And why?  Because Burga's deeper dream is to be able to become a teacher before he's finished in this life. (  http://time.com/4370257/nepal-grandfather-back-to-school/  )


I love this story.  And it caused me to think.  There are so many people over the age of 50 on this planet with important dreams and callings yet unrealized.  I worked once with a 62 year old church planter - he did a very fine job.  He had always wanted to plant a church - the bishop and I were scratching our heads thinking of who could plant a church in a particular zip code, and I had this wild thought.  Maybe Jesse could do it.  Bishop said, "Ask him."  I will never forget the body language, the energy, the joy bubbling up when I asked.  He had four dozen people on the line before he even moved to the place.  That church was bottled up in him just asking to be planted.  

It may not be a church, but a non-profit.  Or a small business.  Or an action related to a pressing world need.  Or something related to the arts, where our dad said to us 50 years ago, "You can't major in that - you will starve!"  

We are living longer and healthier lives in this century.  There are so many dreams that need to be fulfilled in us, as a simple matter of stewardship of the extended lives God is giving to us.  One of our own at Epicenter Group now runs an art studio in his late 50s.  This is Gary Shockley, who returned to the development of his art, after decades of life pulling him in other directions where he pursued other callings.  Gary just completed a commissioned painting of Julian of Norwich for the new Dean of Duke Divinity School, Elaine Heath.  My own father had health issues that caused him to take early retirement at age 53.  This is when Dad started buying real estate - and he had more fun than should be legal in the last years of his life accumulating his little portfolio.  There are a lot of stories like this.  I deeply believe, many, many more such stories are longing to be written.

All of us know people over 50 who have some burning thing in their soul, something big yet to be pursued - in some cases it portends to be an encore act that towers over everything else that has come before.  It is serious business. It is holy business.  

We want to help.

Epicenter Group is convening a very informal Facebook group to start - and calling it Great Things.  The Great Things Group is for people over 50 who have a big dream that they need to pursue as a part of their faithfulness to God.  That's it.  This Facebook Group page will be managed by Epicenter Associate Lynne Alley-Grant.  We are not sure where it goes, only that it seems really important to encourage one another and to nurture holy dreams.  We will watch the people who converge here, and discern what comes next - in order to help folks bring great ideas to life.

If you or someone you know are over age 50 and would like to be connected with others who are possessed by a burning dream, let us know (email us at admin@epicentergroup.org ) and we will connect you with Lynne and this new group.

The name of the group, Great Things, is related to the famous saying of American missionary William Carey who said, "Attempt great things for God; Expect great things from God."