麻豆约拍

GOOD MORNING<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

I once asked the widowed young mother of an autistic son: did she get some respite when he went to bed?聽

No, she said: because I have to go to bed with him and tie myself to him: it鈥檚 the only way of making sure he is safe.

I know another mother from who no longer has her single, weekly hour of respite 鈥揳n 鈥渙asis鈥�, she said, when she could do the shopping.

I find myself wondering how I would cope without a break, a holiday, a day off - while dealing with the most challenging behaviour often in isolation, and at a聽 time when help from statutory agencies could well be reduced.

And I also find myself wondering if there are things which I and people like me could be offering to do, ways in which I might play a part in helping to reduce the very heavy burdens which so many in our society are forced to carry. . For one thing we traditionally do well here in the UK is localism and community.

Much of what enriches our community depends on volunteers: from marriage guidance to bereavement counselling, from manning the helpline to training the team, unpaid volunteers strengthen the invisible bonds that connect our society and enrich it.

In聽 the future,, practical neighbourliness, a personal decision to take responsibility for the local needs we know, and the caring expressed in volunteering will become more important for our community.

As we approach Christmas, let鈥檚 ask: what is my stake in this society?聽 What practically, am I going to do for the people around me?

Often the help needed by those in desperate need is as little as an hour or two in the week providing an oasis; as simple as a bit of company lifting from isolation.

O Father of all: who made us to live in families, open our hearts to the needs of those around us 鈥� the family of society.聽 Deliver us from self-absorption.

AMEN