Honoring Your Parents As the Lights Grow Dim

Today as I spent time with my father, this familiar passage marinated in my soul: "Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you." This is the Deuteronomy repeat of the Exodus commandment. As I watched my dad falling asleep this evening, it came to mind that many of you are also caring for ailing parents. It is a bittersweet duty, possessing the sweetness of being able to direct tenderness towards one so close yet also presenting the bitterness that comes with seeing a person once so strong, suffering agonizing indignities that only people of great depth and substance could endure. Today I fed the man who taught me how to eat and groomed the man who taught me how to dress, tie a tie, shine my shoes and blouse my boots. All of the intangibles of manhood were taught to me by this man I now serve in some ways as if I were the daddy. Yet the total surrender and trust displayed by my father towards me for spoonful after spoonful is an honor that cannot be matched by titles or awards save this one: son. To all of you who find yourselves in a position similar to mine, please stay the course. Serve your loved ones well. Introduce them to their professional care givers. Advocate for them as their voices grow quieter knowing that years in the past as they cared and stood for others, they wondered if anyone would ever stand for and care for them. Be encouraged that in their current vulnerable state which they knew would come someday, you are their "Yes and Amen!" A salute to all those who care for others. May the honor you are giving be multiplied 100 times over for you and for all those you love! God bless us all!