The Sabbatical Sentinel
and
Tired-Again Times
LONGFELLOW LOCUTIONS
"Like the Kingdom of Heaven, the Fountain of Youth is within us; If we seek it elsewhere, old shall we grow in the search.
"If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it; Every arrow that flies feels the attraction of earth."
When I read the second quote, I immediately remembered, as perhaps some of you did, something from seminary. Ancient languages lacked abstract nouns like "sin," and relied instead on metaphors. For example, in Matthew's Gospel, the Lord's Prayer uses the metaphor of indebtedness: "Forgive us our debts." In his parallel passage, Luke uses an archery term: "Forgive us our missing the mark."
The traditional Elizabethan Lord's Prayer uses this familiar metaphor: "Forgive us our trespasses."
MISSING THE MARK (Elder Abuse) AND AIMING HIGHER (Elder Justice)
Although Covid caused the canceling of conferences, the Church Pension Fund has offered Webinars, and last September, Philip C. Marshall led a Webinar titled "Faith-based empowerment of society and self in the service of (elder) justice."
In 2006, Mr. Marshall, after years of increasing concern and with the help of many others, was given guardianship for his grandmother, Brooke Astor, a victim of elder abuse by her son, Philip's father. Philip founded Beyond Brooke, with a website you can access by clicking here.
The Webinar was recorded, and you can watch it by clicking here. The slides for the Webinar, which include the Longfellow Locutions and sources, is here.
In terms of Elder Abuse, this can take many forms, and sometimes happens in combination:
Financial Exploitation
Fraud
Psychological Abuse
Physical Abuse
Sexual Abuse
Undue influence
Deprivation
Neglect— by Others and by One's Own Self
Isolation
Abandonment
Physical Restraint
Chemical Restraint
If you recognize or suspect that any of these abusive acts are happening to someone you know — or to you — here is an excellent resource:
Stamp Out Elder Abuse (https://stampoutelderabuse.org/) includes a page titled Need Help? with people and organizations to contact, which you can see by clicking here.
In terms of Elder Justice, The Five Essential Legal Documents That Everyone Should Have are:
1. Will: What happens with my stuff?
2. Power of attorney: Representing financial wishes in my lifetime
3. Advance Health Care Directive: Representing heath care wishes in my lifetime
4. HIPAA* Release Form: Giving your agents access to your health care records
5. Agent to control disposition of remains: What happens to my body?
Plus these considerations:
a. Retired Clergy Life Insurance Benefit: Do you know who your beneficiary is?
b. Organize your Personal File: Tell your agents where your documents are kept
Including a Letter of Personal Instruction: Clarify your wishes in your Personal File
Including any Deeds, Certificates of title, Investment account, Life, Disability, and Long-Term Care Insurance policies and beneficiary designations
c. Planning Gifts: Re-membering God's mission in your estate plan
Including any Lifetime Gifts and Estate Gifts
* HIPAA is an acronym for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 to protect sensitive patient health information from being disclosed without the patient's consent or knowledge.
To see The Five Essential Legal Documents guide, and the State of Illinois version of the HIPAA Release Form, please click here.
After you have updated or created your documents:
1. Share these documents with your family, spouse, partner, a trusted friend, or any beneficiaries.
2. Register your documents with the institutions or offices that will need them later.
3. Consider pre-arranging your funeral plans now. This includes prepaying expenses, pre-filing your wishes for liturgical observances, and providing liquidity for expenses. It will take a lot of guesswork out of the equation for survivors later.
4. Keep your documents in more than one location. In addition to your home, provide copies to family members, friends, or at your church.
CHOOSE WELL: HELPFUL CONVERSATIONS ABOUT WELL-BEING
Did you know that the Church Pension Group hosts short Podcasts on spiritual, physical, emotional and financial well-being? You can access these podcasts, and scroll down to see the podcasts which interest you, by clicking here.
11 MINUTES OF EXERCISE A DAY MAY HELP COUNTER THE EFFECTS OF SITTING
By Gretchen Reynolds
For the entire article, please click here.
"Dividing people into thirds, based on how much they moved and sat, the researchers found . . . that being extremely sedentary was hazardous, . . . having about 260 percent more likelihood of premature death than the men and women who moved the most and sat the least. (The researchers controlled for smoking, body mass and other factors that might have influenced the results.)
"People in the middle third for activity, who exercised moderately for about 11 minutes a day, were significantly less likely to have died prematurely than people who moved less.
". . . the sweet spot for physical activity and longevity seemed to arrive at about 35 minutes a day of brisk walking or other moderate activities, an amount that led to the greatest statistical improvement in life span, no matter how many hours someone sat."
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