Chaplain's Corner

It was a shock. Some of us had worked with him for 30 or more years; I myself for half that time. We saw him at work one day; the next morning we found out he was gone.

Every day I witness the steady and unnecessarily fast decline of elderly folks who are admitted to acute hospital wards to await placement in Personal Care Homes.

You may be familiar with the Barna Group, or maybe not. According it its website the Barna Group is considered to be the leading research group focusing on the intersection between faith and culture.

According to the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada, 14.9% of Canadians over 65 experience dementia.

A sense of one’s significance is a spiritual matter. One of the spiritual tasks that we all must engage in some way is to find meaning in life.

Birthdays, anniversaries, and other mileposts in life serve to remind us to stop and reflect then turn and look forward. These are natural human activities: stopping to reflect, then turning to look forward.

We live in a time and in a nation where human rights important. A few months ago I was visiting one of the many people who were in hospital who are designated “Awaiting Placement”.

Where do you live, I asked early in my visit with an elderly woman. I often ask the question or one like it.

A sense of one’s significance is a spiritual matter. One of the spiritual tasks that we all must engage in some way is to find meaning in life. Often as we seek to find meaning we experience feels of insignificance?

“But Mom isn’t Mom anymore.” These were the words of a daughter who sat by her Mom’s side, holding her hand and struggling with the fact that dementia had changed her Mom so profoundly.