Introduction

Kristin Mackey who is an international speaker, consultant and artist as well as being a member of Painting for Charity has very kindly written a special poem entitled: 'The Soul Has No Age'  (below) as a contribution to Painting for Charity's campaign for elderly people around the world. 

The poem is an invitation to our world  leaders and governments to start to make necessary changes to the way that we live in our society in order to allow elderly people more respect, equality, dignity and hope!  Following Kristin's poem Raymond Van Neste has added a short article entitled: 'A Call to the Soul' which is based on the contents of the poem.

THE SOUL HAS NO AGE 

Can you hear the soul that cries to be seen

Asks to be heard, attention is lean

Can you hear the voice beneath the years

Speaking of truths rattled by fears

Can you feel the pulse of generations before 

That paved the wave without keeping score

Can you see the light behind their eyes

Rejoicing the past, masking the cries

The human family with its varying years

interesting lives and universal fears

Longs to be one, longs to be known

Regardless of age, regardless of home

If you heard the soul, behind 'old' eyes

You've heard the neglect, hopes and cries

Scientists or home-makers faced with age

Asked to be moved off their playing stage??

Why do we turn our heads on the 'old' 

They built our lives when they were bold

We too may reach the heights in age

Should we be tossed off our playing stage?

If we don't change the way we see 

We 'paint' the same for you and me 

Dignity and care for those of age

Our job as a whole regardless of stage

The soul knows no time, just body in form 

A loving duration, should be the norm

The soul so vast is not a thing of age

Life is a book and we each a page

The ones to cast a vision this new -

Starts with my choice, ends with you

A CALL TO THE SOUL

Raymond Van Neste

A PLEA FOR HELP FOR OUR ELDERLY FOLKS AROUND THE WORLD

This is a special poem not only because it is written by Kristin Mackey but also because the poem is crying out to us no matter where we are located around the world to take notice of a call from people who need our help. 

A UNIVERSAL CALL TO OUR SOULS

In some respects, the call from elderly people is a universal call to our souls, it touches us somewhere deep within because we know that at some time in the future we too will be old and that there is never a 'correct time' in which to begin to care more, the time is now, time is short, lives are short and the soul has no age!  

ELDERLY PEOPLE HAVE SOULS, WE ARE ALL THE SAME

To ignore elderly people's needs means that we ignore the fact  that human beings have a soul and that elderly people also have souls just the same as we do.  If we neglect elderly people's needs we therefore neglect ourselves because recognition of the needs of our elderly folks means that we begin to recognise that elderly people are the same as us.  They have the same needs, feelings, desires, hopes, aspirations that we have had throughout our lives and continue to have no matter how old we are, young or old - the soul has no age! 

A WAKE-UP-CALL

Kristin's poem touches our hearts with a wake-up call to our world leaders to start to recognise that not everyone is the same and some people just because they are weaker than us still deserve and should have, even more so, without exception the same resources, recognition and appropriate care, namely full equality, available to them so that this becomes the norm and not something that we have to point out to governments about their lack of support, finance and care that is missing currently from their political agendas!

October 2008

Kristin Mackey and Raymond Van Neste   The Soul Has No Age and A Call to the Soul.  Copyright Painting for Charity 2008 ©