Photo by Jenny
Stein
Caring for young children was the heartbeat of my life for a couple of decades. Making spaghetti, and finding matching shoes, and taking kids to the dentist were top items on my resume. Not that I was applying anywhere but my own four walls.
Those needs faded into oblivion as the children surpassed me in height, wealth, and strategic sagacity. Becoming unnecessary is the fate of motherhood, and has left me to find other ways to
fill the time.
In the past year I have become invested in helping elderly friends who can no longer stand at the stove, or drive to the dentist. There is a sweetness, and even a similarity, to when I shepherded little ones. The collection of walkers that accompany octogenarians reminds me of the fleet of strollers when mothers brought kids to the park. Sometimes I cut off the tomato skins and potato peels, like when I made sure my toddlers were not faced with a
choking hazard.
It is convenient that I am somewhere in the middle of those two extremes, and can manage the stirring and chopping without a fuss. But succumbing to old age is in my future. My near future.
It strikes me that this might not be plan B. Perhaps God prefers that we lean on one another, and finds subtle ways to accomplish this interdependence. He is, a Weaver of
souls.
"Goodwill makes the connection, because God loves every one of us but cannot directly benefit us; he can benefit us only indirectly through each other. For this reason he inspires us with his love." True Christianity 457, Emanuel Swedenborg
