A sad statistic hit the news today. Apparently, one in every five seniors has been forced to skip a meal as a direct result of the current economic crisis. Some are making do with one less meal a day in order to conserve their reserves. Those who are on fixed incomes have been particularly badly hit by the recession. Some of them, who depended upon income from investments to supplement their pensions, have seen their reserves decimated.
So, Grandma and Grandpa are cutting back on necessities in order to stay afloat financially. I hope that those who caused this crisis, by their wanton speculation and relentless greed, feel proud of themselves. "What did you do today?" "I made Grandma go hungry."
At the same time the news only increases our responsibility to care for one another. Perhaps the churches will have to take up more of the slack in order to counter both the poverty and the loneliness that afflict so many elderly people. Perhaps we need to be investing more resources into senior ministry, and not just for our own people. Someone once said that a society is to be judged by how it treats its weakest members. Shame on us, if we cannot care for those who once cared for us.
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