What a Week - Bad News Week
The news this week was grim. Mass murder in Orlando, the murder of a French police couple at their home, the murder of MP Mrs Jo Cox in Yorkshire, the public taunting of refugee children by drunken louts in France, refugees drowning by the boat load – any one of these events could bring tears to the eyes of decent people.
Each incident shows a side of humanity that refuses to go away. My quote of the week was someone writing, ‘history teaches us that good will prevail, only it takes longer than it did for the evil to raise its ugly head’.
We each have a voice and the use of each protesting voice whenever and wherever evil starts to show itself is the start of the triumph by the good.
Death of a good wife and mother
Mrs Jo Cox was a wife, a mother, a saviour of refugees, a hope for displaced people, an advocate of mercy and welcome for those torn apart from family and country, a neighbour, a dear friend, a loveable person and then she was an MP. Now she is a memory, but one that is cherished by those who speak so movingly about her and their good fortune in knowing her.
Her memory gives hope to the many people who think there are better ways of living in harmony than using a system that says only the strongest, the loudest and the richest will survive. In a climate that sees individuals hell-bent on tearing apart the country in spurious arguments over In or Out, when immigrants are wrongly blamed for deficiencies and consequences brought about by years of inactivity, poor planning, wasted opportunities and sycophantically serving the needs of multinational corporations and banks, in a time when the normal person feels they no longer have a voice, all those who speak of her say she was different. She cared for people. She worked to secure unity. She listened to everyone irrespective of creed, colour, religion or opinion. She put herself out in a way that surprised those who met her.
The senseless death of anyone killed while doing her work is a tragedy. The goodness snuffed out by her death sparks the longing that the goodness she personified will live after her. The power of all the goodness that surfaced in her cannot be extinguished in a moment. She will live on in the power for good that permeates all creation.
None of that will soften the despair of a husband and the anguish of a three year old and a five year old waiting for their mum to come home.
A light in the gloom
This week Sabina Brennan in Ireland described some awful moments of neglect suffered by her mother at the hands of those trusted to care for her in the final months of life. This elderly women who had lived a life with all the joys, fears, hopes and sense of achievement that we all value, was reduced to a semi-comatose state by the use of ‘chemical restraint’. This method allows an understaffed institution to easily control patients who are not biddable and who interrupt the smooth functioning that the staff need to fill in their paperwork and keep the place neat and tidy.
The subdued ‘patient’ in question was a proud woman, a mother, a wife, a grandmother who had known love, happiness, enjoyment, who had experienced her share of sorrow and disappointment, who could look at her children and her grandchildren and say – my life was good and I made a difference.
We tranquilize wild animals in order to help them. We tranquilize ageing people to lessen the inconvenience to those looking after them.
The account is distressing for those who remember having loved ones in those situations. It is upsetting for those who worry about their ageing parents now. It is equally horrendous for those who are approaching the late age where they might experience such treatment.
Where is the light in all this? Sabina Brennan shines a light on the careless cruelty we inflict on the aged. The light of her research and understanding shows the way forward to creating a society that respects the dignity of all. A researcher at Trinity College Dublin, Sabina is leading cutting edge developments on the treatment of ageing. She is a highly respected scientist and an active advocate of respect and proper treatment for the ageing.
She puts her efforts where her mouth is. She goes out among the aged, lobbies and argues with politicians and supports those who manage the charities fighting for the rights of the aged. Her research gives her the insights to know how society ought to provide for its ageing population. She is a woman we should listen to.
She wrote on her Twitter page, @Sabina_Brennan of her fight to remove the use of ‘chemical restraint’. She wrote “I will get the ball rolling but I will need many hands to help me push it up the hill”.
Who could stand silently by? She has raised her solo voice against an evil that cannot be tolerated.
Add your voice and create a chorus.
