Memoir
Phil. 4:12 ". . . I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation . . ."
Ps. 30:11 "You have turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy."
1. This rather short little book about aging and dying has captured the hearts of millions of Americans. Why do you think that is?
2. In what ways did this final "class" with Morrie Schwartz change
Mitch Albom? In what ways was Mitch different from Morrie?
3. What was the biggest lesson that you took away from reading this book?
4. Discuss the significance of the story Mitch recalls from his childhood of
sledding and almost getting hit by a car (pp. 98-99). Why would he include that story in a book like this?
5. Discuss what Morrie means about detaching himself from experience (pp. 103-106) in order to find
peacefulness and serenity. Have you ever been able to do this? Do you think it would be something beneficial to learn?
6. Morrie talks about our culture's fear of aging, and Mitch recalls having counted the billboards
of beautiful and youthful people on his way to the Boston airport. On the flip side, Morrie says that aging is not just decay, but that it is growth. (pp. 117-121) Discuss this. Have you ever been afraid of aging, and
if so, what were you afraid of? Has your concept of aging changed over the years? Explain.
7. How would you feel about having a "living funeral"? How would you feel about attending one? (pp. 12-13)
8. This
book is so much about how to live, but it is also about how to die. Both life and death have a way of inducing humility (pp. 21-22), and many of the descriptions in this book bring us "face to face" with
Morrie's physical decline. What part of this book did you find painful, or even shameful to read and why? How has life humbled you in ways you may not have expected?
9. Mitch asked Morrie, towards the end, if he had
one perfectly healthy 24-hour day how he would want to spend it (p. 175). Mitch was at first surprised by Morrie's simplistic response, until he realized that it was the perfect response in light of Morrie's perspective
on living. Do you think that it is possible to dream of the "perfect" day when you are young and healthy differently than you might think of it when you are dying? How has your idea of the perfect day changed
from when you were younger?
10. Finally, is there anything in your life that you plan to change after having read this book, like for example, dance more, or just plain be more joyful? (By the way, is there any
outward visible sign of joy by which people would remember you?)
Ecc. 8:15 "So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then
joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun."
