When it comes to inspirational older Christians not many names come to mind as easily as Billy Graham’s, so I was excited to read the wisdom he’d gathered for the 200-ish pages of this great book. Without wanting to sound morbid it’s essentially Billy Graham’s well thought-through last words captured in ten easy-to-read chapters.
On the whole the book’s written well – it doesn’t minimise the difficulties, frustrations and limitations of growing old, but also doesn’t minimise the continued responsibilities of older people, particularly around things like retiring. The lessons delivered in the book are not ground-breaking by any means but they’re all worthwhile repeating and re-stressing, at any stage of life. Billy Graham has alread lived my lifetime several times over but a lot of the biblical ideas he presents are instantly applicable to my life as well as someone in their 90s.
But that brings me to my only potentialy criticism of this book (and it’s only potential!) – I can’t put my finger on exactly who I’d recommend this book to. Certain paragraphs and chapters relate to how to live as an older Christian, so I’d recommend them to retired people. Others relate to lessons Billy Graham’s learnt so are really around preparing for old age; I’d have to recommend them to younger people because someone in their 80s or 90s may feel it’s too late, for example, to start saving money for their old age! Others are timeless truths and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to anyone, Christian or not.
So if you’re looking for some good wisdom this is certainly a decent book, but I think because of the subject matter it’s a really personal thing whether you’ll find the contents encouraging, challenging, uplifting or frustrating.
I got this book for free from BookSneeze.com. I’m not required to give a positive review.
