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[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Elders2.jpg|right|frame]]
*Date: before [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/12th_Century 12th century]
==Definitions==
*1 : one living in an earlier period
*2 a : one who is older : senior <a child trying to please her elders>
:b : an aged [[person]]
*3 : one having [[authority]] by [[virtue]] of age and [[experience]] <the village elders>
*4 : any of various officers of [[religious]] [[groups]]: as a : presbyter 1 b : a permanent officer elected by a [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presbyterian Presbyterian] congregation and [[ordained]] to serve on the session and assist the pastor at [[communion]]
:c : minister 2 d : a [[leader]] of the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakers Shakers]
*e : a [http://www.wikpedia.org/wiki/Mormon Mormon] [[ordained]] to the [[Melchizedek]] [[priesthood]]
==Description==
The term '''elder''' (or its equivalent in another language) is used in several [[different]] countries and [[organizations]] to indicate a position of [[authority]]. This usage is usually derived from the notion that the oldest members of a [[group]] are the [[wisest]] and thus most qualified to rule, provide [[counsel]] or some other form of [[leadership]].
==Society==
Elder is a role played in the [[family]] and [[community]] that is most common in third world, non-industrialized cultures. ''Elderhood'' is the condition or [[quality]] of being an elder. Elder is a [[manner]] of [[being]] in the latter portion of life that results from an older man or woman answering the informal call from the [[family]] or [[community]] to accept the mantle of elderhood. Once having accepted this calling, elders are known by their interest in [[mentor]]ing, [[sharing]] their long life experiences, modeling a sense of oneness with [[Earth]] and often, acting as the [[spiritual]] [[agent]] of one's [[community]].
An example of elder [[expression]] is the good [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandmother grandmother] who at once enwraps her [[children]] with life [[assuring]] warmth and, at the same time, lets them go and grow to become [[independent]] and free adults. Another example is the journeyman who [[mentors]] the apprentice with goals of sponsorship and advocacy as well as the [[demonstration]] of [[skills]]. Elders believe the role of adults is to facilitate [[creativity]] in the young, not teach the [[patterns]] of the [[past]]. This often leads to mentoring, which is time consuming. Elders, therefore have less time to indulge themselves. Elders, in their [[wisdom]], sense that they are caretakers and that their vitality depends on a [[personal]] shift from [[Ego|egocentricity]] to [[community]].
The older person who resists the call is often submitting to the weight of bias toward the old found most commonly in the [[youth]] oriented industrialized part of the world. Elder is a generative [[model]] for moving from adulthood to a deeper [[expression]] of being in late life. Older people today are fully capable of rediscovering their generative [[potential]] and maintaining their [[social]] [[responsibilities]] as wisdomkeepers, earthkeepers, [[mentors]] and celebrants, sources of [[blessing]].[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elder_%28administrative_title%29]
[[Category: Sociology]]
*Date: before [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/12th_Century 12th century]
==Definitions==
*1 : one living in an earlier period
*2 a : one who is older : senior <a child trying to please her elders>
:b : an aged [[person]]
*3 : one having [[authority]] by [[virtue]] of age and [[experience]] <the village elders>
*4 : any of various officers of [[religious]] [[groups]]: as a : presbyter 1 b : a permanent officer elected by a [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presbyterian Presbyterian] congregation and [[ordained]] to serve on the session and assist the pastor at [[communion]]
:c : minister 2 d : a [[leader]] of the [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakers Shakers]
*e : a [http://www.wikpedia.org/wiki/Mormon Mormon] [[ordained]] to the [[Melchizedek]] [[priesthood]]
==Description==
The term '''elder''' (or its equivalent in another language) is used in several [[different]] countries and [[organizations]] to indicate a position of [[authority]]. This usage is usually derived from the notion that the oldest members of a [[group]] are the [[wisest]] and thus most qualified to rule, provide [[counsel]] or some other form of [[leadership]].
==Society==
Elder is a role played in the [[family]] and [[community]] that is most common in third world, non-industrialized cultures. ''Elderhood'' is the condition or [[quality]] of being an elder. Elder is a [[manner]] of [[being]] in the latter portion of life that results from an older man or woman answering the informal call from the [[family]] or [[community]] to accept the mantle of elderhood. Once having accepted this calling, elders are known by their interest in [[mentor]]ing, [[sharing]] their long life experiences, modeling a sense of oneness with [[Earth]] and often, acting as the [[spiritual]] [[agent]] of one's [[community]].
An example of elder [[expression]] is the good [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandmother grandmother] who at once enwraps her [[children]] with life [[assuring]] warmth and, at the same time, lets them go and grow to become [[independent]] and free adults. Another example is the journeyman who [[mentors]] the apprentice with goals of sponsorship and advocacy as well as the [[demonstration]] of [[skills]]. Elders believe the role of adults is to facilitate [[creativity]] in the young, not teach the [[patterns]] of the [[past]]. This often leads to mentoring, which is time consuming. Elders, therefore have less time to indulge themselves. Elders, in their [[wisdom]], sense that they are caretakers and that their vitality depends on a [[personal]] shift from [[Ego|egocentricity]] to [[community]].
The older person who resists the call is often submitting to the weight of bias toward the old found most commonly in the [[youth]] oriented industrialized part of the world. Elder is a generative [[model]] for moving from adulthood to a deeper [[expression]] of being in late life. Older people today are fully capable of rediscovering their generative [[potential]] and maintaining their [[social]] [[responsibilities]] as wisdomkeepers, earthkeepers, [[mentors]] and celebrants, sources of [[blessing]].[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elder_%28administrative_title%29]
[[Category: Sociology]]
