In an article about lifestyle, I'd expect the author to take the trouble to look up some definitions of the term. It he had, he would have found that they all include the elements he is bemoaning as being excluded. If a retirement home offers the financial and physical security for older people to pursue their social (and spiritual) interests, that seems to be a good thing.

A typical Sells article where he distorts meaning to suit his purposes. I suspect he is related to Humpty Dumpty in Alice in Wonderland: "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less."

Finally Sells has said something that I agree with.

He says: 'The slogan for our times that "We are not here for a long time, we are here for a good time" is apt.'

I wonder when this intelligent realization came upon him. Was a burning bush involved? Was he swallowed by a whale?

Yes, let's all have a good time and not waste a moment thinking about living for ever and about heavenly rewards and other similar infantile fantasies!

Life is for living! Hooray!

Well said, but not general enough.

One limitation of this article is that it does not offer anything to those who do not share the Christian faith - as if we were not all on our journey to God regardless or our particular path.

The other limitation is that the same criticism is true for ANY advertising, not just for retirement villages. EVERY advertisement is an ugly expression of consumerism. If cinemas, for example as the author suggested, show advertisements, then we should ban them until they stop. Advertisement expenses should also not be recognised as a tax deduction.

Welcome to the world of advertising !

Is this any different from the majority of advertising thrust down our throats wherever we look ? Claims, lies and emotional appeal are all tools of the commercial "sell". It's why I cherish the remote control on my TV when I can mute the sound every time there is a commercial break, or better still, record anything I really want to watch and then zap all that rubbish at a time of my choosing.

A piece so insubstantial that it says nothing, means nothing. The trivialization of article-writing, perhaps?

The first paragraph was very good, then it was downhill all the way, especially from the 4th paragraph onwards.
Such places are of course big business as are old folks "homes" altogether. It is a mega-bucks growth industry with lots of parasites and sharks looking for an easy killing by exploiting the obvious fears of aging people.

But Christians and our culture has approximately zero wisdom re the meaning and significance of death. Indeed the principal reason that people are Christians is because they have not really understood what death, and therefore life requires of us, which is described here:
http://www.easydeathbook.com/purpose.asp
Also http://www.adidam.org/death_and_dying/journal/index.htm