Honour your parents

Saturnia is a good girl. She is willing to take time to show kindness to grandma. In fact, we all inherit grandma's genes to a certain extent. If there be any liabilities, they can all be found in our genes. We are the extension of her genes, her generosity and her vulnerabilities. If we are able to outlive her defects, we survive.
Grandma is very smart. I know her hours. So, around 5 p.m., I deliberately said my evening prayers in her room, watching over her bottles of brandy. Yet, she managed to conjure up some excuses to send me out of her room. Then she felt comfortable (actually, she was cheating herself) to pour her glass of brandy. I protested in vain. Tonight, she was restrained because her granddaughter would have dinner with her. Yet, in her drunkenness, she repeated to Saturnia some unpleasant stories of hers.
Why would someone act in such a way to make oneself unhappy? Drinking is not a problem as long as you drink happily. But every time Mum drinks, she always wails and complains. She is unhappy and makes everybody unhappy. She is really domineering. It is not easy for us to understand the psychology of aged parents. We are too involved. No rational reasoning of senior citizens makes sense to me. Why has she systematically cut herself off from all relatives and friends? Doesn't she care that every action she takes will exact a price on us? Is her self-esteem low, but she is always proud of herself?
My younger brother is a retired electrical engineer. He lives with Dad and Mum and bears all the brunt of her frustrations. He is able to see the grim future. He tries his best to delay the last days. I spend these days in Chai Wan with Mum. I do not expect to gain any breakthrough. I accept what cannot be changed and simply want to stay a couple of days with her. Hopefully, I will be able to share some of the burden off my younger brother. He is not married. He has sacrificed a lot so that I can have a family of my own. I don't know how to repay him. After all, he is my brother. We share the same gene pool.

Today, we start reading the book of Ezekiel. It is a book of images and symbols. His language is enigmatic. His background was similar to the other major prophets. Together with Isaiah and Jeremiah, Ezekiel was also a priest.
the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar (Ezekiel 1:3).
The Jews were already in exile in Babylon. It was no use to warn them against idolatry. They were already suffering the consequences of such bad behaviours. Therefore, the oracles of Ezekiel are full of promises and hopes. Yet, Ezekiel used a lot of images which were difficult to decipher: the four winged living creatures, the wheels and the human form seated on the throne above the firmament over the heads of the living creatures which had four faces: of a man in front, a lion on the right, an ox on the left and an eagle at the back (Ezekiel 1:10). Nobody knows for sure what Ezekiel was trying to tell us. The truth is, even man himself puts up more that four faces in his daily dealings. Man is a mystery.

My dear Advocate, grant me understanding. Without understanding, our actions of goodwill will only be futile. May our actions be pleasing to You and to men. Amen