XXIV.
CARE OF THE AGED.
ONE of the most interesting and instructive illustrations of the
design of our Creator, in the instituiton of the family state, is the
preservation of the aged after their faculties decay and usefulness in
ordinary modes seems to be ended. By most persons this period of
infirmities and uselessness is anticipated with apprehension, especially
in the case of those who have lived an active, useful life, giving
largely of service to others, and dependent for most resources of
enjoyment on their own energies.
To lose the resources of sight or hearing, to become feeble in body,
so as to depend on the ministries of others, and finally to gradually
decay in mental force and intelligence, to many seems far worse than
death. Multitudes have prayed to be taken from this life when their
usefulness is thus ended.
But a true view of the design of the family state, and of the
ministry of the aged and helpless in carrying out this design, would
greatly lessen such apprehensions, and might be made a source of pure
and elevated enjoyment.
The Christian virtues of patience with the unreasonable, of
self-denying labor for the weak, and of sympathy with the afflicted, are
dependent, to a great degree, on cultivation and habit, and these can be
gained only in circumstances demanding the daily exercise of these
graces. In this aspect, continued life in the aged and infirm should be
regarded as a blessing and privilege to a family, especially to the
young, and the cultivation of the graces that are demanded
by that relation should be made a definite and interesting part of their
education. A few of the methods to be attempted for this end will be
suggested.
In the first place, the object for which the aged are preserved in
life, when in many cases they would rejoice to depart, should be
definitely kept in recollection, and a sense of gratitude and obligation
be cultivated. They should be looked up to and treated as ministers
sustained by our Heavenly Father in a painful experience, expressly for
the good of those around them. This appreciation of their ministry and
usefulness will greatly lessen their trials and impart consolation. If
in hours of weariness and infirmity they wonder why they are kept in a
useless and helpless state to burden others around, they should be
assured that they are not useless; and this not only by word, but,
better still, by the manifestation of those virtues which such
opportunities alone can secure.
Another mode of cheering the aged is to engage them in the domestic
games and sports which unite the old and the young in amusement. Many a
weary hour may thus be enlivened for the benefit of all concerned. And
here will often occur opportunities of self-denying benevolence in
relinquishing personal pursuits and gratification thus to promote the
enjoyment of the infirm and dependent. Reading aloud is often a great
source of enjoyment to those who by age are deprived of reading for
themselves. So the effort to gather news of the neighborhood and impart
it, is another mode of relieving those deprived of social gatherings.
There is no period in life when those courtesies of good breeding
which recognize the relations of superior and inferior should be more
carefully cherished than when there is need of showing them toward those
of advancing age. To those who have controlled a household, and still
more to those who in public life have been honored and admired, the
decay of mental powers is peculiarly trying, and every effort should be
made to lessen the trial by courteous attention
to their opinions, and by avoiding all attempts to controvert them, or
to make evident any weakness or fallacy in their conversation.
In regard to the decay of bodily or mental faculties, much more can
be done to prevent or retard them than is generally supposed, and some
methods for this end which have been gained by observation or experience
will be presented.
As the exercise of all our faculties tends to increase their power,
unless it be carried to excess, it is very important that the aged
should be provided with useful employment, suited to their strength and
capacity. Nothing hastens decay so fast as to remove the
stimulus of useful activity. It
should become a study with those who have the care of the aged to
interest them in some useful pursuit, and to convince them that they are
in some measure actively contributing to the general welfare. In the
country and in families where the larger part of the domestic labor is
done without servants, it is very easy to keep up an interest in
domestic industrial employments. The tending of a small garden in
summer--the preparation of fuel and food, the mending of household
utensils--these and many other occupations of the hands will keep alive
activity and interest, in a man; while for women there are still more
varied resources. There is nothing that so soon hastens decay and lends
acerbity to age as giving up all business and responsibility, and every
mode possible should be devised to prevent this result.
As age advances, all the bodily functions move more slowly, and
consequently the generation of animal heat, by the union of oxygen and
carbon in the capillaries, is in smaller proportion than in the midday
of life. For this reason some practices, safe for the vigorous, must be
relinquished by the aged; and one of these is the use of the cold bath.
It has often been the case that rheumatism has been caused by neglect of
this caution. More than ordinary
care should be taken to preserve animal heat in the aged, especially in
the hands and the feet.
In many families will be found an aged brother, or sister, or other
relative who has no home, and no claim to a refuge in the family circle
but that of kindred. Sometimes they are poor and homeless, for want of a
faculty for self-supporting business; and sometimes they have
peculiarities of person or disposition which render their society
undesirable. These are cases where the pitying tenderness of the Saviour
should be remembered, and for his sake patient kindness and tender care
be given, and he will graciously accept it as an offering of love and
duty to himself. "Inasmuch as ye have done it to the least of these my
brethren, ye have done it to me."
It is sometimes the case that even parents in old age have had
occasion to say with the forsaken King Lear, "How sharper then a
serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child!" It is right training
in early life alone that will save from this.
In the opening of China and the probable influx of its people, there
is one cause for congratulation to a nation that is failing in the
virtue of reverence. The Chinese are distinguished above all other
nations for their respect for the aged, and especially for their
reverence for aged parents and conformity to their authority, even to
the last. This virtue is cultivated to a degree that is remarkable, and
has produced singular and favorable results on the national character,
which it is hoped may be imparted to the land to which they are flocking
in such multitudes. For with all their peculiarities of pagan philosophy
and their oriental eccentricities of custom and practical life, they are
everywhere renowned for their uniform and elegant courtesy--a most
commendable virtue, and one arising from habitual deference to the aged
more than from any other source.
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