Hilltowns Senior News for Friday, April 29, 2016
I find reincarnation very attractive. No, I don’t mean that one always comes back prettier than before, but I really like the concept.
Do I believe in it? Probably not, but I’d like it to be true. It satisfies my need for justice, and an ultimate fairness in the universe.
It allows for an infinite number of variations, to accommodate all our individual foibles, good deeds, and errors. I’ll admit that Dante’s seven circles of hell (or was it nine?) tries to accommodate everyone, but you still have to fit into a particular level or category.
Reincarnation, especially if you allow for the transmigration of souls (like your worst enemy coming back as a cockroach) has the ability to accommodate everyone. If you were only somewhat good last time around, maybe you come back as a working stiff with a lousy boss, thereby giving you the opportunity to pay for your past sins, but still make something of yourself.
Your wonderful grandmother, the one who would always sneak you that extra cookie, could return as a lovely princess. Sadistic criminals are doomed to return as the beasts their actions resembled.
As a system, it’s neat, and it takes in all of the loose ends, right up to having those who led a perfect life being able to get off the merry-go-round and spend the rest of eternity in peace and love. In some traditions, the truly saintly sometimes volunteer to come back just to help the rest of us along on the path.
Reincarnation is like a good folk-tale. The main character goes forth blindly, encounters adversity and evil characters, makes life-altering choices, but finally learns the truth and is rewarded in the end. That’s exactly how I think the universe should work. Free will with rewards and punishments precisely calculated in accordance with justice and mercy.
As I said, I’m not at all sure that I believe it, but I want to. On the other hand, since nobody I know has ever come back to report on conditions on the other side, I suppose that any belief that motivates one to be kind, and to try to do better, is a good choice.
An Australian Aborigine probably doesn’t see his world in the way I see mine, any more that a Japanese Kabuki dancer experiences life the same way that a Brooklyn teenager does. I suspect that whomever the deity (or deities; you never know) may be, they have to be wise enough to know that our names for them are just handles we use to try to make the unexplainable, understandable.
If I’m wrong, please be careful when you’re walking through the woods in the future; that salamander may be me.
Coming events
Regardless of your theology, you can be better informed and make a difference. The New York Statewide Senior Action Council is hosting a Senior Citizen Grassroots Advocacy Day on Tuesday, May 10, at the Convention Center in Empire State Plaza in Albany.
Learn about the latest federal and state policy and economic security issues of importance to seniors and their families. There will be a briefing at 10:30 a.m. This day is free, but seating is limited. Pre-registration is required by May 5. Lunch will be available at noon.
After lunch, attendees are encouraged to meet with their state legislators. Among many other topics to discuss is the proposal to merge the State Office for Aging with disability services for all ages. To register, please contact Statewide at: 1-800-333-4374 or
Statewide is also sponsoring two upcoming telephone conferences:
— On Tuesday, May 24, from 10 to 11 a.m., the Alzheimer’s Association will be talking about how to get help for patients with dementia;
— On Tuesday, June 21, the topic will be how to compare nursing homes for services, quality, and safety, presented by The New York Regional Office of the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Call 1-800-333-4374 to get the conference number and reserve your spot.
There will be a Health and Services Fair on May 15 from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 340 Whitehall Road, Albany. Admission is free, and there will be information booths, refreshments, door prizes, therapeutic massage, and even quick adult haircuts.
The Helderberg Senior Lunch Program is in need of a printer-scanner machine to print menus, sign-up sheets, and correspondence. If you know of one available, please call Linda Hodges at (518) 872-0940
On other topics, the Helderberg Senior Lunch program will be putting on another bluebird house-building class on Tuesday, May 10, after lunch. Sign up now at the Senior Center.
A bus will be taking senior lunchers to hear the Albany Senior Orchestra at The Sanford Library in Colonie on Thursday, May 17. The bus will be leaving the Senior Center immediately after lunch, as the concert starts at 2 p.m.
Register now for upcoming workshops at the Albany Guardian Society, located at 14 Corporate Woods Blvd., Suite 102 in Albany. Call (518) 434-2140, or email . All workshops will be at the Society unless otherwise indicated. Upcoming workshops include:
— May 3, from 10 a.m. to 11:30: “Effectively Using Your iPhone” will be held at the Fenimore Gallery of Proctors Theater at 432 State Street in Schenectady;
— May 3, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., “Aging in Place: Your Home for Your Lifetime”;
— May 4, from 9 to 10:30 a.m., “Nutrition for Seniors”;
— May 10, from 12 to 1 p.m., “Gizmos and Gadgets: Handy Devices to Help Caregivers”;
— May 10 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., “Eldercare GPS: Navigating the Maze of Available Services”;
— May 11 from 9 to 10:30 p.m., “What in the World is a Facebook?”;
— May 11 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., “Container Gardening for Seniors”; and
— May 12 from 1:30 to 3 p.m., “Lifestyle Choices for a Healthy Heart.”
Menu
And one of those lifestyle choices ought to be lunch at the Senior Center! Come enjoy the culinary delights and the company, and join us for games and cards on Monday and Tuesday, and live music by Nancy Frueh on most Fridays. Doors open at 11 AM, and lunch is served promptly at Noon.
— Monday, May 2: chicken primavera with Italian vegetables, white rice, whole wheat bread, milk, and tropical fruit;
— Tuesday, May 3: meatloaf with gravy, garlic mashed potatoes, spinach, whole wheat bread, milk, frosted spice cake; and
— Friday, May 6: baked fish with tomato, mushroom and peppers, roasted summer squash, rice, whole wheat roll, milk, tapioca pudding.
Please call 872-9400 24 hours in advance to reserve lunch. Email , or sign up when you come in. Tell us how many are coming, your name, and your telephone number. If you’d just like to come and help out, give Mary Moller a call at 861-6253, or email her at , and put “volunteer” in the subject line.
Lunches are provided by Helderberg Senior Services, the Albany County Department of Aging, and Senior Services of Albany. The Hilltown Senior Center is located at 1360 Helderberg Trail (Route 443) in Berne.