Vol XVII. No. 8
Archive - Dec 2009 - Oct 2019
GLOBAL AND ECUMENICAL IN SCOPE
CANADIAN IN PERSPECTIVE
Wayne A. Holst, Editor
My E-Mail Address: waholst@telus.net
This email is sent only to a voluntary subscriber list.
If you no longer wish to receive these weekly columns,
write to me personally at - waholst@telus.net
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Dear Friends:
My Special Item this week is a book to support caregivers of persons with the condition of dementia. This book is directed to people in our church congregations but I think it is a much-needed resource beyond that too.
Thanks to those who have helped me create the rest of this issue.
Wayne
PLEASE NOTE - If a link below, seems to be dead, cut and
paste it into the address bar at the top of your web page
and it should work.
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SPECIAL ITEM
Book Notice -
HOW THE LIGHT SHINES
Stories, Strategies and Spiritual Practices
For Caregivers of People With Dementia
by Trisha Elliott
Wood Lake Publishers, Kelowna, BC.
September, 2021. 171 pages.
Paperback $15.96 CAD. Kindle $9.98 CAD
ISBN #978-1-77343-285-4
Publisher's Promo:
This book is for caregivers who have a desire not only to hone their caring skills, but also to deepen their relationship with God through their care. It explores feelings of loss and challenge, but turns always towards potential and hope.
THESE ARE THE FACTS: There are over 100 types of dementia affecting over 50 million people around the world. But if you’re picking up this book, you probably already know that. Unfortunately, knowing the hard numbers doesn’t make caregiving less demanding, challenging, exhausting, and, yes, many times and in many ways, potentially uplifting. Caregiving is typically understood as an activity, as something we do – likely because caregivers do a lot. But caregiving is deeper than what we do. It is more than a series of tasks. It is, first and foremost, a call to love.
In How the Light Shines each chapter engages an issue raised by caregivers themselves and is filled with real-life stories that convey the realities of caregiving, as well as tips and advice, and spiritual insight and guidance.
It is written with both individuals and groups in mind. Each chapter includes questions and, for personal or group reflection, a spiritual practice and a prayer grounded in the pain and possibilities of it all.
--
Author's Words:
For over two decades, I've been caring for both caregivers and people with dementia in my role as a church minister. What I've learned about caregivers is that few consider their caring as sacred, holy work.
I've written this book for caregivers of persons with dementia who desire to hone their caring skills and to deepen their relationship with God through their care. This book explores feelings of loss and challenge, but turns toward potential and hope.
Each chapter explores a dimension of the caregiving experience. The themes are inspired by topics and issues caregivers have raised with me over the years. Each chapter applies a fresh, caregiving lens to a beloved Bible story; pivots around the personal experiences of caregiving; contains information, tips, or advice from experts in the field; and is followed by questions for reflection or discussion for individuals or groups, a spiritual practice, and a prayer.
This book includes advice I've gotten from many people over the years. Some of those who have helped me have dementia themselves.
Some call dementia an illness; others, a disability. In this book I call it a "condition".
I use the term "caregiver" because it is more generally recognizable. Keep in mind that there are different kinds of caregivers... I tried to share a range of terms and scenarios in his book and hope that caregivers of all stripes will identify with them.
Caregiving is a two-way street - those with dementia and those trying to offer them care. Every chapter begins with words from a person with dementia as I believe our caregiving should take its lead from the person we are caring for.
- edited by Wayne Holst from the Preface
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Trisha Elliott, Author
Trisha Elliott has supported caregivers of people with dementia for over 20 years as an ordained minister. She was honoured to receive the Queens Theological College alumni achievement award for ministry excellence. As a writer, cultural creative, and artist, Trisha has won numerous national and international awards for features in a variety of genres. She has contributed to a handful of books and was a guest religion commentator at the National Arts Centre. Trisha lives in Ottawa, Canada, where she has only moderate success coaxing her two teenage sons to explore forests and largely fails to convince them to eat anything she has foraged. Visit her online at trishaelliott.com.
My Thoughts:
For some years, Christian churches with which many of us are familiar are growingly committed to providing support for persons with dementia.
This is a good thing, and I hope more and more congregations will make it possible that their members and associates will receive support.
In many ways, congregations are well suited to this caregiving task, but resources and on-going practice is needed to keep pace with developments in this mental health field.
The most important value to keep in mind as we engage in this ministry is to remember that people with the condition are as human as the rest of us - even though they seem to not have the faculties they once did.
I thank God for a book like this and to Wood Lake Publishers for making it available.
But the book from:
Amazon.ca: not yet available.
*****
COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS
Jim Taylor's columns for September
are not yet available on his website.
--
John Stackhouse Jr.
Vancouver BC and Moncton NB, Canada
Faith Today,
September, 2021
"The Canadian Election"
An Evangelical Christian Perspective
--
Ron Rolheiser,
San Antonio, TX
Personal Web Site
September 13th, 2021
"September 11th - Twenty Years Later"
--
Isabel Gibson,
Ottawa, ON.
Traditional Iconoclast,
September 11th, 2021
"The Other Victims of 9/11"
--
Mark Whittall,
Ottawa, ON.
Sermons and Blog,
September 11th, 2021
"How to Live"
*****
NET NOTES
BISHOP SPONG DIES
"He Gave Answers to Questions
I've had All My Life"
Religion News Service,
September 14th, 2021
Spong Gave Priests Room to Exist
Religion News Service,
September 15th, 2021
--
NEW ANNE FRANK CENTER
OPENS IN THE AMERICAN SOUTH
It Seeks to Combat Bigotry,
Discrimination, and Racism
Religion News Service,
September 15th, 2021
--
'COME FROM AWAY' MIXES 9/11 MEMORIES
WITH TEARS AND LAUGHTER
National Catholic Reporter,
September 11th, 2021
--
CLIMATE CHANGE -
A SYMPTOM OF DEEPER PLANAETARY DYSFUNCTION
Five Ideas for Treating the Greater Disease
The Christian Century,
September 8th, 2021
--
IN HUNGARY, THE CONSERVATIVE HEART OF EUROPE,
POPE FRANCIS URGES BRIDGE-BUILDING
Religion News Service,
September 13th, 2021
--
UNDERNEATH ALL THE MAKE-UP
WHO WAS THE REAL TAMMY FAYE?
A Look at the Person Inside
Religion News Service,
September 16th, 2021
*****
WISDOM OF THE WEEK
Provided by Sojourners and the Bruderhof online:
Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public.
- Cornel West
--
In Beloved Community, radically inclusive and resilient love is the norm. It is a community in which we are constantly seeking to build and restore right relationships.
- Adam Russell Taylor
--
“No one ever wins a fight.” This suggests that there is always some other way; or does it mean that man can always choose the weapons he shall use? Not to fight at all is to choose a weapon by which one fights. Perhaps the authentic moral stature of a man is determined by his choice of weapons which he uses in his fight against the adversary. Of all weapons, love is the most deadly and devastating, and few there be who dare trust their fate in its hands.
- Howard Thurman
--
When we stand before Jesus crucified, we see the depth of his love, which exalts and sustains us, but at the same time, unless we are blind, we begin to realize that Jesus’ gaze, burning with love, expands to embrace all his people. We realize once more that he wants to make use of us to draw closer to his beloved people. He takes us from the midst of his people and he sends us to his people; without this sense of belonging we cannot understand our deepest identity.
- Pope Francis
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CLOSING THOUGHT - Nelson Mandella
What counts in life is not the mere fact that we’ve lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.
(end)
*****
For Those Interested -
ACTS MINISTRY AUTUMN STUDIES AT ST.DAVID'S UNITED:
Monday Night Book Study - Sept. 20th - Nov. 29th 7-8:30 PM Zoom (10 weeks)
(no class on Thanksgiving Monday, October 11th)
Book Theme: "Starlight" by Richard Wagamese
**
Thursday Morning Bible Study - Sept. 23 - Nov. 25 10-11 AM
Zoom (10 weeks)
Bible Theme - "First Isaiah" (Isaiah chapters 1-39)
If you have questions, contact me at waholst@telus.net
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