Conversation

I went this week back to the VA to finish (I hope) the paperwork for mom and dad's benefits. While I was there, I had an interesting conversation with Glenda Pavey (she rocks!) about how I see my passions converging into a working possibility for my next career.

I have a passion for Liturgy and liturgical studies, I also have a passion for the elderly and the aged and their spirituality. I told Glenda that I envisioned the 'healthy church model' as a coin perfectly balanced on it's edge. What keeps it balanced is the pillars of youth and aged.

I'm concerned with the movement I see of only appealing to the needs of the youth and young people and their responsibility to keep 'life' in the church. The worship media has become loud, fast paced and heavily focused on myriad modes of sensory stimulation. While this may be good for the over-stimulated youth of our society, the aged can not keep up with the fast paced worship nor do they find themselves spiritually 'fed' feeling the presence of the divine.

I have also noticed in the congregations I've visited a severe lack of true accessibility for not only the disabled but the aged. Stairs are not easy to traverse if you have an elder needing to use the platform, entrances are not always wheelchair or walker accessible, bathrooms are woefully ill-equipped to handle the needs of the various populations, etc.

It's no wonder that our elders feel brushed aside and discarded when the essential components of their spiritual lives are not proactively addressing their physical needs to ensure continued involvement.

Growing old with physical impairments should not be an end of life judgment. The opportunity for learning, sharing and contributing to the vitality of a spitirual community belongs to all the members of the community; young, elder, hale and frail.