Caring for Parents - Winter 2021

Caring for Parents - Winter 2021

Dear Caregivers~

This week our Lenten journey takes us “deep in the woods: called to deep commitment.” One of the spiritual practices we are invited to is to look in our photo albums for pictures of paths, or pictures that reflect when we were invited to a new path. This picture is from my time in Ohio. There was a city park that had a pond and this path wound around the pond. Almost a third of the path was lined with these magnolia trees. It was a sight to behold in spring when the magnolias were in full bloom. I found it magical to go for a walk surrounded by these gorgeous flowers. But if you went for a walk a week or so later, when the blooms were finished and lying on the ground rotting, well, you knew your shoes would get dirty with the muck of the decaying blooms. 

I’m not sure what that has to do with caregiving, other than, I imagine there are days when the path of caregiving brings beauty and there are days when the path of caregiving goes straight through the muck. And still we walk down the path.

Whether your current path is through beauty or muck, know that when you walk the path of caregiving, you are doing holy work. And know that God walks with you.

In Christ’s peace,
Pastor Rachel

Holy God,
you are the creator of all that is infinite and unknown to us. Yet, you also have known each of us “before we were knit in our mother’s wombs.” When we are afraid, when we are lonely, when we worry for ourselves and others, help us to count on your presence. Help us to trust that, as we have known you present in the many changes of our lives so far, you will be with us through all the transitions to come. May we be mindful that you and your creation are always trustworthy. Amen.

caring for ourselves while caring for our elders, p.96