austraLasia #1250
Old age grumpy or happy? Your choice
Philippines seminar for men and women religious
MANILA: 17th September 2005 -- Ten days ago in Mandaluyong
City, Fr Dennis Paez sdb organised a seminar on old age, on behalf of
the Conference of Religious. 150 men and women took part. The seminar
considered the dynamics of ageing and the care of the elderly. Fr
Dennis himself presented two talks, the first entitled: Senility - not
a natural end but a choice, and the second: the psycho-spiritual
preparation for the final years. Other presentations included one from
the head of the Geriatrics department at St. Luke's hospital in Manila
and a contribution on the Philppine's experience of long-term care for
the elderly by the head of a facility for the elderly.
Fr Dennis offered seven tasks of creative ageing based on A Time to
Live, by Robert Rains:
- Waking up-
recognizing my own mortality and realizing that now is the time to
engage, again, the meaning and direction of my life.
- Embracing
sorrow: acknowledging my own losses and griefs and the pain of others,
that it may deepen my humanity, yielding compassion
- Savouring
Blessedness: remembering and delighting in all the ways I have been, am
being and can be a blessed and blessing person in my life
- Re-imaging
work: reviewing and revising the ways in which I want to contribute to
society, give ‘my gift’, complete my life work, live out my purpose in
the years ahead
- Nurturing
intimacy: Deepening my interconnections with
my religious family, other family members, friends, nature, myself, God
- Seeking
Forgiveness: Doing what I can to clear the decks of my relationship so
as to enter the later years with as unburdened a heart as possible
- Taking on the
Mystery: Accepting life and death, and exploring the ultimate meaning
of my life with thanksgiving and hope.
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