Dear LPG,

I wonder if, and have faith in the fact that many of our readers also read the Bible, where in Matthew chapter 5 verses 3-12 one of the readings of note records part of Jesus’ ‘sermon on the mount’ which I learned as a little girl a very long time ago.  The words offer a code for living which, even if you are not a practicing Christian, gives some fundamental principles which have done me no harm throughout my relatively long life.   

I found these words written on a notice board in a care home and thought that LPG readers of a certain age might understand, relate to and appreciate hearing them either for the first time or again.   When I first read them they resonated with me because of the poem took me back to Matthew but I did not pay that much attention to what the words actually meant, however now I can identify, and wonder how many of our readers feel the same. 

BEATITUDES FOR THE FRIENDS OF THE AGED

1,         Blessed are they who understand my faltering steps and palsied hand.

2,         Blessed are they who know that my ears today must strain to catch the things they say.

3,         Blessed are they who seem to know that my eyes are dim and wits are slow.

4,        Blessed are they who look away when coffee spilled at the table today.

5,         Blessed are they with a cherry smile who stop and chat for a little while.

6,        Blessed are they who never say, “You’ve told that story twice today”.

7,         Blessed are they who know the way to bring back memories of yesterday.

8,        Blessed are they who make it known that I am loved, respected and not alone.

9,        Blessed are they who know I’m at a loss to find the strength to carry the cross.

10,       Blessed are they who ease the days on my journey home in loving ways.

They say that you can find anything on the internet these days and it did not take me long to find out that this poem was written by Esther Mary Walker

I know that when I first looked up at that notice board in the community centre to read this poem some ten years ago, I did not really understand.  One has to get older to really identify with what the writer was getting at.

CJ, Brockley

LPG offers some information about the original beatitudes…

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