Fire in the Soul: A Prayer Book for the Later Years

by Richard L. Morgan

Book Overview

In Fire in the Soul, Richard L. Morgan offers prayers to God for help in meeting the following late-life challenges:

discovering God's call at retirementmoving to deeper contemplationaccepting agingdiscerning the meaning of storiesmentoringfacing loss and deathredeeming suffering

Morgan includes personal prayers (most written after his own retirement) as well as classic prayers from John Calvin, Saint Augustine, John Donne, and Teresa of Avila. A constant spiritual guide for the later years, Fire in the Soul is a valuable guide for midlifers as well as clergy, social workers, and other professionals who work with older adults.

Enlarged Print

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0835808793
• ISBN13: 9780835808798
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Upper Room Books
• Length: 162 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 7.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

The inspiration and comfort of prayer.

This book is filled with various types of prayer; some by the author and some by historical figures. Some prayers are from people well known and others from people totally unknown. I cannot be satisfied reading one prayer a day. I would read as many as I had time for whenever I had the opportunity to sit down and meditate with this book in hand. I recommend it to everyone who wants inspiration and is open to having a deeper faith in God.

Wonderful and timely

This book is a real wonder for those of us past the age of 75, and perhaps for some younger people. I read a prayer or two every day, often going back to my new favorites. I have since purchased 3 other copies to send to friends who have the same needs for prayers by the elderly as I do. This book is a collection pf prayers by the elderly, not for the elderly. A natural for clergymen who, in this day of aging parishoners, work with so many older people.

A daily devotional book on aging

I am working my way slowly through Fire in the Soul, reading it as the author wishes-- a dose a day. What helps me most is that the book is written as a morning or evening devotional text. You can pick a prayer or reading and spend time with it, rather than racing through yet another text on aging. Growing old is hard enough, but having worked in the field of aging, I know firsthand how seldom practioners point out the spiritual resources available for the various development stages of the aging process. This would be a good book not only for people who are aging, but for those who work with or on their behalf to illustrate that there are spiritual resources which are vitally important as one grows old--in fact, I have found that prayerfulness is the one resource that brings a sense of greater purpose to the aging process, and gives us strength. I would highly recommend this book. Of course, I am the author's brother, so I can say that both as a minister and someone who has worked in the field of gerontology, and not just as a member of his family!