Thecla Pereira
This has reference to Altaf Shah’s Letter ‘Are parents for old age homes?’ (Herald, October 12). In the Bible God’s word says “honor your father and mother”. A young man once said “This journey is not over. While my family has experienced blessings, both practical and spiritual, since the day I chose to obey God by honoring my father, I don’t believe the blessings will end here. I look forward to sharing with my children, future grandchildren, and great-grandchildren the joy I have found in my father’s blessing as a result of obeying God’s command to honor my father it is looking forward to a legacy of blessings”.
The Bible has much to say about caring for elderly parents and other family members who are not able to care for themselves. The early Christian Church acted as the social services agency for other believers. They cared for the poor, the sick, the widows and the orphans who had no one else to care for them.
Christians who had family members in need were expected to meet those needs. Unfortunately, caring for our parents in their old age is no longer an obligation that many of us are willing to accept.
The elderly can be seen as burdens rather than blessings. Sometimes we are quick to forget the sacrifices our parents made for us when they are in need of care themselves. Instead of taking them into our homes—whenever that is safe and feasible—we put them in retirement communities or nursing homes, sometimes against their will. We may not value the wisdom they have acquired through living long lives, and we can discredit their advice as “outdated.”
We need to ask ourselves which religion we believe and if we do believe then does this religion tell us to leave our parents to fend for themselves at a time when they need us the most. Religion teaches us that parents come much before our partners and our children and never vice-versa. Need of the hour is to keep this elderly lot happy and comfortable as they took care of us when we needed it the most and definitely not at old age homes.
Altaf Shah, A good question! Remember when we honor and care for our parents, we are serving God as well.
