In today’s first reading, Heb. 13: 1-8, St.
Paul admonishes us to “[l]et brotherly [sisterly] love continue….” He also
asked that we “be mindful of prisoners as if sharing their imprisonment, and of
the ill-treated as of yourselves, for you also are in the body.” (Heb. 13:
1-8).
This body of ours, with
its evil/sinful inclinations, certainly is capable of imprisoning us in our
weaknesses, in attitudes that are unkind and judgmental, critical and “yes”
even nasty—a body that can lead us to engaging in behaviors that are hurtful both
to others and ourselves. As I reflected
upon the statement “be mindful of prisoners as if sharing their imprisonment,” I
journaled the following reflection:
Dorothy Ann, be mindful of the imprisonment of an elderly person in a
mind that is significantly impaired by Alzheimer’s and/or severe dementia. Imagine the pain of not remembering when expected
to recall a simple fact, an obvious fact, the pain of losing something of
consequence and disappointing others, the frustration of not being “on top of
the game,” or “ahead of the game” or, at least, with the game,” of not being as sharp as one once was. Imagine
this, as well, in dealing with the mentally challenged, with the child who is
of average intelligence and unable to compete with smarter children, with a
physically challenged child.
My journaling continued
along the following lines concerning the sufferings of an elderly person:
Dorothy Ann, imagine the pain of feeling other peoples’ frustration for losing things, misplacing things, not
remembering things. An elderly
memory-impaired person wants to be loved, accepted, treated with respect,
understood as much as you do.
Yes, the imprisonment of the mind is painful, Dorothy Ann. The confines of severe memory loss are painfully
dehumanizing. On top of that, for some elderly
persons, is the inability to ambulate as one once could, the painful realities
of being physically disabled by degenerative bone disease, severe osteoporosis,
and crippling arthritis that makes the smallest of movements excruciatingly
painful.
Imagine being in a body and a mind that fails you 24/7.
I pray, Lord, for the
grace to “let brotherly [sisterly] love continue" when others do not meet my
expectations because my expectations are unreasonable. May I be patient with
myself and others under circumstances that try their patience and mine. And may my thinking be brought into harmony with yours. May the following words of Scripture transform my very being to its core: "...learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart..."(Mt. 11: 29)
No comments:
Post a Comment