Diary of a Ghetto Priest | Needed: love and patience for the elderly

There are friends who were once around me, there are our homeless elderly who are discarded. They are gone. There are still some who are around me, and they know that the time is drawing near. They find themselves struggling with the wages of time, the aches of just about every body joint – back, knees, shoulders, neck, fingers. Then there is the tiredness in the head, the hands, legs and feet. The brain dullens; the eyes, ears, appetites for food are not what they used to be. Young people and adults don’t engage with the ederly as much as they once did. Old age has set in and suddenly it takes great effort to live and work and taste the sweet grapes of life.

But we must remember where we came from. Our parents – fathers and mother – brought us forth and passed on values, spiritual, familial, and even material, that are of great value. You are alive today because of the care of your parents. We must not forget family, school, neighbours, and friends. Most of all, it is family that has taken care of us. Thus, proverbs tells us 19:26 tells us: “He who mistreats his father or drives away his mother is a worthless and disgraceful son.”

If the son or daughter does not observe the decline in their mother or father; if they don’t see the need for greater patience and attention, then they are selfish and perverse. Even while the bodies and the members weaken, old folks sharpen in their understanding of what is essential in life. They know the importance of kindness and love above all other virtues. They grasp the value of tolerance and patience with others more than anyone else. Whereas young adults might want to get along in life materially, the elder folks see the desires of the soul – to find meaning in suffering, to pray and be alone with God, to question and seek out the realities of death, suffering, sickness, heaven and hell.

Then there are regrets, loneliness, anxiety, fear, doubts, and a sense of uselessness. “I am a burden to everyone. I am not able to work and provide for myself and others. Nobody talks to me anymore or cares about my opinions. Soon, I will be in a wheelchair. I will stumble and fall and break my bones.”

WISDOM

We must be aware of the aged. There is often great wisdom that comes from their years of existence. Seventy years is a full and rich period of time to live, and 80 years for those who are strong, say the psalms. The lessons of life begin to be learned after the age of 50.

Draw upon the wisdom of the aged. Learn from them what they have learned from living all those years. Learn to listen, to understand, and to value the lessons of struggle and suffering, and the traditions of their family and community life. And learn from God, the Ancient One, to whom we’ll all return not too long from now.

In our latter years, we realise that there will soon be death. Then what? Where shall we go? Heaven or hell? We ask, what have we done in this world? What do we deserve? Have we built the kingdom of God on earth or have we lived a selfish and individualistic Ask for love and peace and the beautiful life past understanding.