“God invented time to keep everything from happening at once.” So says Mel Kimble, a man widely admired for his spiritual insight. This week in San Di-ego at a meeting of the American Society on Aging, friends and colleagues celebrated his life and legacy. Though acquainted with the man only slightly, I found it spiritually uplifting simply to take part in the celebration.
Founder of the program on aging at the Lutheran seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, Professor Kimble loves what he calls “my post-mortem life, my bonus years.” You cannot tell by looking, but he has survived two major illnesses that threatened an end to his life.
In the early 1980s he was diagnosed with malignant melanoma, cancer that seemed likely to kill him.
Then, in 1995, he suffered a cerebral stroke that hit his right side of his brain. At that same time, his wife was diagnosed with lupus and one of his daughters underwent a miscarriage.
During this period of trial, members of the Kimble family showed their spirit of hope by playfully inventing a set of rituals and declaring themselves members of “the royal order of rhinos.” Family members took inspiration from animals remarkable for their tough hide and they began to amass a small army of rhino figurines.
“Time is irreversible,” Professor Kimble says, “but there is an opportunity to shape a moment that is rich in meaning.” That is how he looks back at the times of suffering which he and his family have endured.
For Dr. Kimble, after his recovery from the first life-threatening crisis, “every day was now a bonus, and every person in my life more precious and valued.” “With the awareness of my finitude and mortality,” he has written, “time and its passing took on deeper meaning.”
Like so many others who have passed through the threat of death, Mel Kimble saw more deeply the beauty in the world around him. “Sunrises and sun-sets as well as full moons were events not to be missed, especially sunsets shared with loved ones.”
This man’s spirituality now centers “in relationship and connectiveness, especially with my family and faith community.” For him family bonds have taken on even greater importance since the health crises he and his loved ones have en-dured.
Dr. Kimble has a well-deserved reputation for innovatively bringing the study of aging to the seminary where he has long taught. In his own studies, his teacher and prime mentor was Victor Frankl, the famous psychiatrist and survivor of Auschwitz and Dachau. Professor Kimble holds his mentor in veneration and prizes his approach to the human soul.
An associate of Sigmund Freud, Frankl wrote the book Man’s Search for Meaning which, over the years, has sold more than three million copies.
In this book and in his many other writings, Dr. Frankl stressed “the defiant power of the human spirit.” As a survivor of the Nazi death camps, he knew how some human beings could be physically crushed and yet, despite the horror of it all, find ways to emerge still alive spiritually.
I remember reading Man’s Search for Meaning as a young man and finding in it inspiration for my own life. The book had great credibility for me since it was written by a man who had witnessed unspeakable horror and survived be-cause of his unyielding belief in the human spirit.
Mel Kimble in his advanced years evidences a peace of soul born of much experience and personal trial. As he accepted the congratulations of friends and colleagues last week, he showed forth signs of the blessings received over a long life. I enjoyed adding my own greetings to those of many others because I felt spiritual power coming from the man.
It’s beautiful to feel the presence of spiritual gifts such as those that Mel Kimble possesses. Over a long life, these gifts have had the chance to mature and grow in power. His mentor, Viktor Frankl, chose the hour glass as his favorite image to indicate the passage of time. For his student Mel Kimble, now coming into the fullness of age, the glass looks to be charged with grains of sand made precious by life experiences lived bravely.
Richard Griffin