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A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Debbie Thrower, of the Bible Reading Fellowship and founding Anna Chaplain

Good morning.

As a Chaplain for older people, I’ve visited numerous men and women over the age of a hundred. Edna is now 104 and, mentally, as sharp as ever. Her greatest fear has been that she’d develop dementia, as several members of her family have done in the past. Each time she has cared for them.

It’s estimated that 850,000 people are living with dementia (and that number is set to more than double to two million by 2051).

When I last visited Edna, who is now housebound, she recalled the periods of her life when she has been a carer. Sometimes, she admitted, she hadn’t always been as cheerful in the role as she’d have wished. Handing me a crumpled piece of paper on which was written a prayer, she told me that an old friend had given her this prayer. The friend had, also, cared for three of her own relatives as they lived with dementia into old age.

It’s anonymous and has been passed by word of mouth. It indicates why it’s always worth persevering and spending time with someone living with the disease. Edna said: ‘I found it most helpful when tiredness overwhelmed, and patience wore thin, others might also.’

Lord, let visitors take my hand and stay awhile, even though I seem unaware of their presence. Help them to know when I don’t recognise them, that I will, I will. Keep their hearts free from sorrow for me. For my sorrow when it comes only lasts for a moment, then it’s gone. Please let them know how very much their visit means to me. How, even through this relentless mystery, I can still feel their love.

Amen