A Faltering Church .......

There is a foreign land, far, far away to which in due course we are all led, the halt, the lame, the blind, the infirm or just the elderly.

It is a land of limited opportunity, a land where the future is uncertain, it is certainly not the land of opportunity.

Of course we  know, the reports are many and the news not especially great, that it will be tough.

Society will almost invariably let us down and not too gently, in some cases family will let us down, gently or otherwise and in general terms it is perhaps only reasonable not to rely on those who employed us, trades unions, the health service or the charities who trade on their concerns for the aged, the elderly or the old or the cantankerous.

When I left work for a life of idleness I was concerned as to how I might manage.

Always, as I know from experience, more month than money is the minimum of the anticipated inconveniences of retirement, old age and infirmity.

When the indoor critic began to function less well I did wonder whether the old firm might have anything to contribute to our future well being.

After all as Ruth insisted to Naomi:

"Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God'

A familiar enough story, crucial to the genealogy of David and of Jesus Christ.

It is a story of a daughter in law's commitment to her husbands mother as, after the death of her husband Elimelech, Naomi returns to Bethlehem.

Real enough people in a real country, following drought and starvation, Ruth and Naomi are bereaved, one daughter in law stays in Moab but Ruth makes her commitment of loyalty to her husbands mother.

Stories such as this inspired generations of christians who saw faithfulness as central to the christian story.

But what about the land that the newly retired leave their personal Moab to journey to, who will accompany them? Who will speak to them of 'their people' or 'their God'?

Sadly for many the experience is different than the experience of Naomi, begging the question, who cares for the carers?

On one occasion support was offered via an invitation to lunch with the bishop. I enquired as to access to the Bishop's House and was reassured only to find that in point of fact the house, whilst not inaccessible, required a good deal of dextrous wheelchair navigational skills, including over steps, in order to effect an entry, the dining table was not especially accessible so we stayed in the hallway and the indoor critic lunched on her own.

It is only if you have been in that position that it is possible to understand both the frustration and humiliation that a wheelchair reliant person feels being pushed, half lifted, cajoled and then patronised with the suggestion that s/he is doing 'really' well.

But as the years progressed so did the disability.

There was practical support. Fixtures and fittings to future proof the house were especially welcome and of great practical value, we wouldn't have managed without them, but speaking metaphorically of course, very few 'loves 'n hugs'.

Apart from one regular visitor who came with gifts, greeting and sacramental support (and who was always very welcome) it was as though the church feared that the disability was in some way contagious and so it stayed at one remove, as though we were the village of Eyam and had contracted the plague.

Often our purpose and role can be found in the name we are given. Priest, Minister or sometimes  Pastor the pastoral role is defined in the dictionary as:

'giving help and advice about pastoral matters .... including helping the poor and the sick'.

I'm not sure how this translates into a definition of a Bishop's role in relation to the retired clergy of his or her diocese but I somehow sense that simple delegation to retired clergy officers, or a cheque at Christmas, or an occasional reference in the Vade Mecum to how valuable retirement ministry is, (we know that of course as more and more vacancies are offered to the retired on a house for duty basis) is not sufficient.

We were always grateful for the support we got which included some essential alterations to  make the house liveable-in, but, well but indeed, if you don't know what you want it is hard to ask for it I suppose .......

'our people are your people, our God is your God', surely that means we are still neighbours?