The Cost and Benefits of Caregiving

<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW126605618 BCX4"> <p><span data-contrast="none">According to the</span> <a href= "https://nam.edu/families-caring-for-an-aging-america/"><span data-contrast="none"> National Academy of Medicine</span></a><span data-contrast="none">, 17 million Americans care for an older parent, spouse, friend, or neighbor with medical limitations. It is costly, beautiful, and important work, especially as so many push to</span> <a href= "https://www.breakpoint.org/canadas-medical-assistance-in-dying-expands-and-expands/"> <span data-contrast="none">eliminate suffering by eliminating sufferers.</span></a><span data-ccp-props= "{"201341983":0,"335559731":720,"335559739":0,"335559740":480}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="none">There are, as a full-time caregiver</span> <a href= "https://hilltopranch.org/how-caregiving-changed-the-way-i-relate-with-people/?fbclid=PAAabBEeoSaA45tCQpcWECM13gXP7N553eSYa1Ml_DFZ6vVUhyWwkTdAWha5s_aem_AXG7gzXYjIM_FlMxff4vRugoEf1GxMn1sBEnR9K7Ujjoyk3LoPg9oxlf6dik7VHeSig"> <span data-contrast="none">put it recently,</span></a> <span data-contrast="none">important lessons learned and blessings received in bearing each other’s burdens: </span><span data-ccp-props= "{"201341983":0,"335559731":720,"335559739":0,"335559740":480}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="none">"Over the years, I have prayed many prayers for the people whom I’ve been entrusted to care for. But … more times than I can count, … the script has felt flipped, and it is I who walk away feeling tended, knowing I have received nurture, kindness, and patient love."</span><span data-ccp-props= "{"201341983":0,"335559685":720,"335559731":720,"335559739":0,"335559740":480}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="none">Any culture in which the call to care for others lessens, and the pressure to eliminate the sufferer intensifies, becomes an impoverished culture. As theologian</span> <a href= "https://cct.biola.edu/stanley-hauerwas-death-church-america-suffering-love/"> <span data-contrast="none">Stanley Hauerwa