My church presented its Christmas cantata this Sunday. It was held in the morning, so that night-driving would not be a problem. Seven inches of snow had been predicted, which might have made it a challenge to get there in either of our rickety vehicles, but the storm never materialized. So all systems were go – until, alas, I was socked with a monster cold, which is nothing you want to introduce to a church-full of people. 
 
So I watched the cantata online instead. Even though my tinny speakers could not do justice to our wonderful choir and orchestra, it was mostly a blessing. But I have to say that it was heartbreaking, too, to not be a part of the congregation, to not hear the magnificent “O Holy Night” in person, to not join these dear fellow believers in beloved carols from “Joy to the World!” to “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.” 
 
But, Lord willing, this situation is only temporary for me. It’s not temporary for the tens of thousands of elderly people who are likely permanent shut-ins. Whether they live in their own homes or in facilities, many are left with not much more than memories of the joy of worshipping and fellowshipping with other believers. 
 
Depending on their TV providers, perhaps they can find a televised service or two each week. But it’s never the same as being there.  Some are fortunate enough to have pastors who visit them now and then. And a few are blessed to live in facilities staffed by Activities professionals who are Christian, in which case they’ll probably be treated to regular on-site worship services.
 
Which brings me to the point of writing about this today.
 
First, if you are helping a Christian loved one find an assisted-living facility or nursing home, please be sure to investigate the spiritual food that will be furnished just as fervently as you inspect the dietary situation. While having decent food is of course important to anyone, it’s the spiritual food that will help sustain him or her through the toughest trials in the days and weeks to come. 
 
And second, if you are a believer with the time and the physical ability, consider delivering your own spiritual food to residents of a nursing home in your area. You may not be able to provide the choir, the sermon, the Bible study or the fellowship of a large group of long-time brothers and sisters in Christ. But you can provide reasonable facsimiles of all these things on a much smaller and more personal scale.  You’ll find some ideas here.
 
I hope you’ll think about it, if you’re not doing it already; you’ll be able to bring joy to some very special people, and in return your heart will be blessed many times over.   

When I was in my 20s, I was crazy about the poetry of Sara Teasdale, a "lyric poet," which apparently means "romantic" and "hyper-emotional" and perhaps even "self-absorbed" and "narcissistic" -- apt descriptions of my state of mind back then. I was, after all, a completely world-bound young woman, living for the kind of love called "eros" in wonderfully precise ancient Greek.

My favorite Teasdale poems were her most depressing, and I considered the best of them all one entitled "The Long Hill" (1919):  
 
I must have passed the crest a  while ago
     And now I am going down.
Strange to have crossed the crest and not to know--
     But the brambles were  always catching the hem of my gown.

All the morning I thought how proud it would be
     To stand there straight as  a queen--
Wrapped in the wind and the sun, with the world under me.
     But the air was dull, there was little I could have seen.

It was nearly level along the beaten track
     And the brambles caught in  my gown--
But it’s no use now to think of turning back,
     The rest of the way will be only going down.

It's true that we feel young until one day we wake up and realize that this is no longer the case, that our earthly lives are 50%, 60%, 70% or more behind us. But Teasdale was a bit young to have recorded such thoughts; she was only 35 years old when it was published. By the world's standards, she was also a bit too successful to have been so down on her life, having been married in 1914 and having just won, in 1918, a Pulitzer Prize for her poetry.
 
But as they say, you're as old as you feel, and apparently having no eternal hope makes one feel ancient at an age most would consider a prelude to one's prime. I have been unable to find any record of Teasdale having found everlasting life. 

And in point of fact, she was on her way down by the time she published "The Long Hill"; she overdosed on sleeping pills in 1933, dying at the age of 48.

That's one way to avoid the inevitable deterioration of old age, I suppose.

But there's another, infinitely better way -- and that is to join the apostle Paul in saying, "Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction,  which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

The fact is, it's possible for us to know with absolute certainty, whether we're 30 or 70 or 110, that the best is yet to come. It's a free gift. And it's available to anyone willing to bow the heart to our Creator. 

First, the bad news: the National Association for Home Care & Hospice is warning that almost 75% of hospice and home care will be unviable by 2017, directly as a consequence of Obamacare. 

Medicare and Medicaid cuts are expected to mean that 43% of providers will be paid below cost, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) itself -- an escalation of the problem that providers have been lamenting for years. It's quite likely that we'll be seeing the shut-down of more and more businesses serving these populations.

I imagine that various levels of government, and especially the feds, are frothing at the bit to fill in the inevitable care gaps. That will surely mean higher taxes for everyone who pays taxes -- and the quality of care you would expect to receive with bureaucrats running the show. 

The above-linked Christian Post article provides a chilling quote from Robert Moffit, senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation's Center for Health Policy Studies: "One thing is certain: Under the Obama agenda, seniors will pay more -- much more -- and they will pay this steep price in many different ways, including a loss of access to care resulting from demoralized doctors and other medical professionals cutting back on Medicare practice." 

Odd that the mainstream media are not covering this crisis-in-the-making, even though it was flagged by the Congressional Budget Office over a year ago. But we can anticipate that there's a related trick they won't miss: Don't be surprised to hear growing demands for the "right" to die, and the desperate need to help the elderly end their suffering.

So, is there any good news to go with the bad?

Perhaps this: We've been warned.