My mom had dementia and needed A LOT of assistance. So she lived in a lovely “memory care” place with lovely caregivers. But in a strange twist of magic, Mom and the other memory care residents somehow became puppies.
“Hiiiiiiiiiii,” their caregivers would say to them in that high-pitched, long drawn out, with a smile on your face, sound that we coo at babies…and puppies. “How ARE you?” The question comes with a lilt in the voice and a sing-song sound. And when it’s time to do something, instead of explaining what is happening and asking, in a calm, adult voice, if they’d like to join in, think of how you’d call a puppy and you’ll get the idea of what Mom and the others heard.
“C’mon! C’mere!” in a high sing-song voice. Not surprisingly the adults don’t respond well. That then gives the mistaken impression that they can’t comprehend simple requests.
But, here’s the thing. The residents haven’t suddenly reverted to not knowing. They know. They just can’t access the knowledge. But the knowledge is there. What they need are reminders, in the way of calm, quiet explanations. Next, they need time to absorb and digest what they’ve heard, and then they need patience from us as they move – ever so slowly – in the requested direction. With our actions we demonstrate our beliefs and what better way to demonstrate our belief in their ability than to recognize it?
Isn’t that exactly how the Course deals with us? We are never told “Come on! Come on! Come on!” without explanation. No, we are given the respect of an explanation, the time to absorb and digest it, and then infinite patience without judgment to conform our behavior. We are often told, “Ideas leave not their Source,” and the Course begins and ends with the knowledge that we are ideas that have not left our Source It respects that we continue to have the knowledge within us – we just don’t remember. And don’t our elderly mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers deserve the same respect from us??