 
This book is for caregivers who have a desire not only to hone their caring skills, but also to deepen their relationship with God through their care. It explores feelings of loss and
challenge, but turns always towards potential and hope.
THESE ARE THE FACTS: There are over 100 types of dementia affecting over 50 million people around the world. Unfortunately, knowing the hard numbers doesn’t make caregiving less demanding, challenging, exhausting, and, yes, many times and in many ways, potentially uplifting. Caregiving is typically understood as an activity, as something we do – likely because caregivers do a lot. But caregiving is deeper than what we do. It is more than a series of tasks. It is, first and foremost, a call to love.
In How the Light Shines each chapter engages an issue raised by caregivers themselves and is filled with real-life stories that convey the realities of caregiving, as well as tips and advice, and spiritual insight and guidance.
It is written with both individuals and groups in mind. Each chapter includes questions and, for personal or group reflection, a spiritual practice and a prayer grounded in the pain and possibilities of it all.
In How the Light Shines, Trisha Elliott invites caregivers, of which she is one, to dive deep, to confront the challenges – physical, emotional, and spiritual – that are part and parcel of caring for someone with dementia, and also to explore the possibility that caregiving is a holy calling, that it is not just about learning a set of skills, but can be a path to a deeper relationship with God and with the divine spirit in all of us, including those with dementia.
What readers have to say
“This resource can help family caregivers and pastoral care teams in churches and caring communities across North America be affirmed and supported in their sacred tasks, especially in this time when we have seen how devoted care to the vulnerable among us is critical to life itself.”
– Rev. Carolyn Woodall, B.A. Hons., M.Div., Intentional Interim Minister, Wesley United Church, Regina SK
“We do not enter the darkness of aging easily. Trisha Elliott compassionately shines light in the dark corners of the aging journey. This will be one of those go-to guide books with practical, creative, and spiritual suggestions.”
– Rev. Joye Platford, Minister and Art Therapist
“Using her lived experience and thorough research, Trisha Elliott provides practical suggestions to ground oneself spiritually as caregiver. How The Light Shines is an encouraging book for caregivers and for those supporting them.”
– Rev. Lynn McGrath, Minister at Agassiz United Church, Agassiz, BC
“This important book by Trisha Elliott encourages us to look at the caregiving role as a ‘sacred call’ that can act as a potential gateway into a deeper relationship with ourselves, our loved ones and the spiritual realm. The central premise is that caregivers have a higher purpose, and that the divine can be found in the most mundane and most challenging work. By focusing on the inner and outer resources available to caregivers and the restorative potential of creative expression, this book is a positive, practical guide to finding meaning, support and healing in troubled times. Like light shining through a stained glass window, these uplifting ideas, references and exercises have the potential to restore our souls by transforming the mundane into the holy.”
– Chris White, Musician and Community Developer, Ottawa, Canada
About the author
Trisha Elliott has supported caregivers of people with dementia for over 20 years as an ordained minister. She was honoured to receive the Queens Theological College alumni achievement award for ministry excellence. As a writer, cultural creative, and artist, Trisha has won numerous national and international awards for features in a variety of genres. She has contributed to a handful of books and was a guest religion commentator at the National Arts Centre. Trisha lives in Ottawa, Canada, where she has only moderate success coaxing her two teenage sons to explore forests and largely fails to convince them to eat anything she has foraged.
ISBN 978-1-77343-285-4 | 4.75" x 7" Paperback, 172 pages, $19.95
Order your copies now! Click Here to Order
WOOD LAKE PUBLISHING
Imagining, living, and telling the faith story.
WOOD LAKE IS THE FAITH STORY COMPANY.
It has told:
The story of the seasons of the earth, the
people of God, and the place and purpose of faith
in the world
The story of the faith journey, from birth
to death
The story of Jesus and the churches that
carry his message.
Wood Lake has been telling stories for more
than 35 years. During that time, it has given form
and substance to the words, songs, pictures, and
ideas of hundreds of storytellers.
Those stories have taken a multitude of forms
– parables, poems, drawings, prayers,
epiphanies, songs, books, paintings, hymns, curricula –
all driven by a common mission of serving those on the faith journey.
|
|
|
