Author Archives: John Linscheid

About John Linscheid

John Linscheid learns a bit more each day from his gay old soulmate, friends, and life generally. A writer and activist, John has been an author, activist, editor, pastor, amateur artist, burger flipper and factory worker in the course of his 60 plus years. Over 30 have been spent with his gay old soulmate, with whom he has led workshops, made presentations, built a labyrinth, planted trees, and sought out the company of spirited queer folk--particularly men. They have become fixtures at Germantown Mennonite Church, the western hemisphere's oldest Mennontie congregation and now one of its most progressive. Experience places John in the mystical circles of both Queer and Christian spirituality. If he becomes a doddering old fool, he intends to do so with reckless, joyful abandon.

Will It Be Enough?

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keys on a ringRetirement decisions still furrow my brow and clench my stomach.  How much in savings, assents, and retirement funds will be enough to live through retirement?  How much will we need?  How will we know that we have enough to take the step into retired living?

Retired friends urge me not to wait.  Do it now, they say.  Most of them come from a different generation. Their professions provided defined-benefits–some with COLAs.  They bought their homes early enough and rode the housing bubble high enough to pay off their homes with significant equity before they retired.

My generation bought homes later and saw equity shrink.  Our retirement plans are on the 401k model.  They rise and fall with the whims of Wall Street.  And despite politicians’ blind faith in “free markets,” I hardly trust Wall Street to give a damn whether I end up dying naked in an alley or dying comfortably in a “mature adult” community.  Continue reading →

Desire to be Desired

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old body figureI’ve been in this relationship nearly 30 years now. But I still check out the good looking men I see on my train ride and walk to the office each day. I fantasize about a little encounter. Would my Gay Old Soulmate object?  Maybe he’d be thrilled to see me actually try something interesting and a little risky for a change.

I’m at the age where I could use a novel adventure. But being “at the age” is just the problem. Continue reading →

Four Themes in Gay Old Soul Living

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As I become more and more a gay old soul, life’s challenges fall roughly into four themes: spirit, body, relationship, resources.

Candles

Spirit

After I first came out we dreamed of a fairy godbrother circle.  A sort of gay spiritual order with its own spiritual discipline to weekly:

  • Perform one action to nurture one’s growth
  • Perform one action to promote justice for others
  • Perform one action that is outrageously gay.

Continue reading →

Who Are We as Gay Old Souls?

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Who are we? The gay old souls. The men who cling to “middle age” while our bodies nudge us into elderhood.

We are sons of the original gay old souls. We follow the generations that at first finessed the closet and then shattered its doors. In the wake of the Stonewall generation, we took up the struggle to create an out, gay culture. A defiant and fierce people, we sought full equality in all aspects of business, society, education and spirituality.

We are the survivors, the righteous remnant of a lost generation. We lost more brothers than we can bear to remember and can never forget.

And ours has been a generation of firsts. Fill in the blank. “First openly gay . . . .” We accomplished far more than most of us ever expected. So much that a generation follows us that has little grasp of what “it was like back then.” There seems no need for them to take up the struggle–at least in this country.

So what is our role?  Now that the quest is nearly over?  What is the purpose of gay old souls?  What is our experience?

Age ought to bring wisdom.  For me it brings mostly questions.  But the journey still excites.

To Gay Old Souls Everywhere

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We are joining you.  Progressing in age.  Progressing in body. Progressing in spirit, in mind, in society and in economy.  It’s a new gay adventure.  For my generation, just being gay was an adventure.  We were the warriors–building on the foundation of the ancestors from Stonewall and before..

As we live into an age where gay seems nearly normal, if not equally legal, This website will explore the personal, relational, and spiritual experiences of progressing into our new existence.