Link to this Photo to see why I choose it!

I found this in my files, and given our membership dilemma, I thought it was worth a share.

Can ‘Super Seniors’ be Rotary’s Salvation Army?

The following poem, in its original form, was composed by the theologian John Chuchman. It was originally about his Christian Church as an institution. As I read, it reminded me of Rotary and our struggles to grow our membership in North America.

I wrote John and asked him for permission to modify it for a Rotarian audience. I received permission to modify it. John has reviewed it and extended his permission to share it with you.

Super Seniors

In North America Rotary is dying

and it’s not a particularly slow death.

Its members are aging 

and once they are dead,

will Rotary die too?

Is the answer to attract young people,

more young families, 

children,

youth 

and vitality?

Unless Rotary figures out how to attract young people, 

will Rotary in North America die?

Face it,

Rotary as it is, 

is not attractive to young people 

and to date, 

efforts to be hip, 

to get down with the program, 

and move with the times 

has only exposed Rotary International’s hierarchy and elite

as the aging frauds that they are.

Whatever you say about the inexperience of the younger generation, 

they are smart enough to spot a fake or an imposter 

and so

programs and youth outreach,

or even pub nights, movie nights, 

and even more contemporary changes, 

have for the most part failed 

to produce the kind of results Rotary needs in order to survive.

The younger generation

will not be bound by man-made 

rules and regulations,

rites and rituals

as we were programmed to do.

For the most part clubs seeking to grow their numbers 

have become obsessed with trying to figure out 

what to do 

to bring in a younger crowd.

But, youth are not the future of Rotary in North America.

Look around. 

The silver-haired aging population of this planet 

are the future of Rotary.

I too had been fooled

into thinking that the future of Rotary is to bring in a younger crowd.

But the real solution lies more in a reality 

to which many of us have been blind.

The fastest growing part of our population is seniors. 

By the year 2030 – 25-30 percent of the population

will be made up of senior citizens. 

By 2050 that number is set to rise to 35-40%.

The even better news is that as we live longer 

and are enjoying better health; 

the vast majority of seniors 

can expect to live healthy and productive lives.

It gets better.

Our aging population is better educated 

that it has ever been before 

and despite most of the dire predictions, 

the vast majority of seniors are better off financially 

than seniors have ever been in the history of humanity.

Now that doesn’t mean there aren’t challenges 

or that some of our seniors aren’t living in poverty. 

It does mean that we do have the wherewithal 

to ensure that seniors can live vitally rewarding lives 

and contribute to the health and wellbeing of our society 

in ways we are only beginning to tap into.

The future has so much potential.

When the fish who have been caught by Rotary’s good news 

swim off to other shores, 

when we are gone, 

there will be plenty of more fish in the seas.

Think long and hard about this. 

Why aren’t we casting our nets where the fish are?

Has Rotary become so obsessed with youth 

that it is willing to let schools and schools of fish 

swim past 

in the vain hope that minnows are more attractive 

because they alone can save Rotary?

When did any of Rotary’s Good News become about 

saving an institution?

We have Good News to share with people of all ages

who have ears to listen.

And that Good News

is that we each have within us

all we need to be fully human.

The Good News

is that we do not need 

approval of some external agency,

regular attendance at some club meeting room

or some deep dark secret hidden in a constitution.

Most of us are getting up there in years 

know the importance of dwelling in the questions of this life.

Who are we? 

Where did we come from? 

Why are we here? 

Is there a Creator, or a god, or a source, 

or a reality that we are somehow connected with? 

Where are we going? 

What is justice? 

How do we stop the violence? 

What can we do to ensure peace? 

What happens when we die? 

Where are we going? 

Are we going anywhere?

Is there life beyond this life? 

What is love? 

Who am I? 

These are the questions that haunt our very existence.

We have a contribution to make 

to conversations about the very nature of reality. 

We have wisdom to share. 

We have love to give. 

We have a hunger for justice and peace. 

We can continue to be obsessed with youth 

or we can embrace who and what we are 

and live fully, 

love extravagantly 

and become all we are created to be.

We have the grey hair and balding heads, old bones, 

wisdom, generosity, 

and love. 

We also have what so many people wish. 

We have an appetite for learning 

and we are not afraid to dwell in our questions. 

We have the courage to try new things 

and to fail if need be.

We have a passion for life 

and we sure know how to play.

We can find the courage to play to our strengths. 

We can meet our financial challenges 

and solve our accessibility challenges.

We can be a vital community.

If we be authentic to who we are; 

if we play to our many strengths 

we will continue to be the kind of Gathering 

which is attractive to all ages.

Healthy communities are attractive. 

Communities who know who they are 

and who they serve 

are healthy communities. 

Healthy communities are able to play to their strengths. 

We don’t need to become what we are not 

in order to survive.

That doesn’t mean that we don’t need to challenge ourselves 

to be more than we are. 

It does mean that we need to remain open 

to the challenges of the world in which we live.

But we need to hold up a mirror 

and celebrate who we are together. 

We have so much potential. 

So many strengths. 

Yes, there is so much more that we can be.

I love spreading the Good News. 

There are so very many fish in the sea. 

All sorts of varieties and ages 

so let us cast our nets widely. 

Let’s play to our strengths, 

for we are great fishers 

and we the most precious bait, 

the Good News 

that at the very heart of all

that is the Reality that

Rotary is LOVE.

For everything there is a season, 

this is our season. 

Let’s embrace it. 

Let’s live fully

and Love extravagantly

to be all that we are created to be.

Let’s do it together.

The Good News

has absolutely nothing to do with

saving an institution.