Love God and your neighbor

And we are called to take care of ourselves.

When I was starting out as a parish pastor fifty years ago, I often preached on the importance of taking care of yourself. Partly I did so because I often heard young mothers lamenting that they were so busy taking care of other people (husbands, children, parents or other relatives) that they had no time for themselves. Partly I did so because of people like Edith.

Edith had five brothers, but it was simply presumed that as the only daughter she would live with her parents until they died. She never questioned that assumption and simply channeled her maternal instincts to her nephews and nieces. She was in her mid-forties when her last parent died, and she quickly married a recently divorced man who had just moved to town. She was eager to have a child, but sadly menopause began a few months after she was married. She cried herself to sleep for a few weeks, and then went back to being her hardworking, useful self for her wider family, her neighbors, her church friends and her husband. Unfortunately her husband was a jerk.