Source: newsthemegh.com
On the occasion of the International Day of Older Persons, I want you to remember that we will all grow old one day, and any investment we make in caring for the elderly is an investment in ourselves.
Let me share with you a bible quotation Reverend Father Andrew Campbell shared with me this morning at the 1st Ghana Ageing Conference in Accra.
Sirach 3: 1-33 is on our duties to a father and mother.
“Listen to me your father, O children;
act accordingly, that you may be kept in safety.
For the Lord honours a father above his children, and he confirms a mother’s right over her children.
Those who honour their father atone for sins, and those who respect their mother are like those who lay up treasure.
Those who honour their father will have joy in their own children,
and when they pray they will be heard.
Those who respect their father will have long life, and those who honour their mother obey the Lord; they will serve their parents as their masters.
Honour your father by word and deed,
that his blessing may come upon you.
For a father’s blessing strengthens the houses of the children, but a mother’s curse uproots their foundations.
Do not glorify yourself by dishonouring your father, for your father’s dishonour is no glory to you.
The glory of one’s father is one’s own glory, and it is a disgrace for children not to respect their mother.
My child, help your father in his old age, and do not grieve him as long as he lives; even if his mind fails, be patient with him; because you have all your faculties do not despise him.
For kindness to a father will not be forgotten, and will be credited to you against your sins; in the day of your distress it will be remembered in your favour; like frost in fair weather, your sins will melt away.”