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Pastoral Care Week Oct. 23 - 29 Healing wisdom for parents, children by Rev. George M. Rossi Chaplain, MUSC Pastoral Care Services The Sankofa is a wisdom symbol that means “to go back and get it.” The symbol is based on a mythical bird with its feet firmly planted forward and its head turned backwards. To the Akan people of Ghana, it represents wisdom as learning from the past and from experiences, thus ensuring a strong future. To us, in terms of spirituality, it also represents a movement of reaching back to our inner depths where God resides, and of discerning the many marvelous ways God works with us. The egg in the bird’s mouth represents the gems or knowledge of the past upon which wisdom is based; it also signifies the generation to come that would benefit from that wisdom. (source:  http://www.pastoralcareweek.org)     Sharing healing wisdom is something that Baby Boomers, Generation X’ers, and the Greatest Generation can do for the young people of the world. One of the greatest sights I see on a regular basis happens in the MUSC Children’s Hospital; grandparents huddling and caring for parents who have sick children. It is simply amazing to watch grandparents visit with their grandchild who may have recently undergone surgery or even been diagnosed with a serious disease.    Even more wonderful is watching the gentle presence and caring attitudes that grandparents show towards their adult children who may be struggling with taking care of a sick child. Parental healing wisdom includes a willingness to stay with the child so that a mother or father can work or one of them can even run home for a change of clothes and to check on the older kids. Parental healing wisdom can be as simple as gently reminding a parent to trust the medical team as they try to heal the child. Guiding parents back to their spiritual roots is another gentle way of helping parents to look beyond themselves for help.    As adults most of us can look back in life and know that our own parents did the best they could at that time. As a parent of four children I can look back and learn from what my parents did for me and then use that to bless my own children. We can also try to avoid their mistakes. Looking back keeps us in touch with all that is good.    All of us have been children. One great spiritual leader said the kingdom of heaven can be entered only with childlike trust. As an adult, one can reach back and find that trust and put it into effect for the good of a child and family. As a grandparent or parent, one can take the hard lessons learned by remembering what it was like to go through the trouble of having a sick child. Reaching back helps us to look forward as families hope for emotional, physical, and spiritual wellness.   Friday, Oct. 28, 2005 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.