They are quiet people, all of them, they work long and hard hours for little pay, they do hard and testing work that is sometimes thankless, sometimes unpleasant, sometimes wonderfully rewarding.

I call them Bodhisattvas, Goddesses of Mercy And Compassion.

They must be available and loving and patient, even in the face of need, pain,  frustration and provocation.

And they are.

I found five of them gathered in the Mansion office for a meeting and badgered them to come out into the hallway for a photo, i love this photo, their generosity of spirit and kindness simply pours out of them.

I have watched them work for a long time now in the Mansion, and I marvel that in our fragmented and often contentious and divided world, there are people working so quietly and faithfully behind the scenes, uncomplaining, empathetic, diligent.

I suspect some of them have never heard of the Bodhisattvas, they are shy and quiet.

I don’t know where they get the smiles that pour so naturally out of them. They are intensely loving and considerate. They brighten lives and soothe troubled souls, and listen forever to laments and complaints and sorrows.

This work – they see suffering and death almost daily – does not ever seem to harden them or make them cynical or cold. I don’t know where they come from or  how they do what they do.

They change diapers, wipe bottoms, help the frail bathe and dress, clean those who can’t always clean themselves.

They fill in for families that rarely appear, comfort those who are alone, guide those who have lost their memories, bear the brunt of frustration and anger.

The Bodhisattva vow is the vow some  Buddhists take by cultivating moral and spiritual perfection to be placed in the service of others, to do work others don’t care to do, and the practice the six perfections of giving:

moral discipline, patience, effort, concentration and wisdom in order to fulfill their goal of  compassion and mercy for all beings.

It is a wonderful vow, imagine if our political leaders took it.

I am not a Buddhist, but I have often read of the fabled Bodhisattavas and their vow, and I can’t help but think of them when I see this remarkable women lift up the lives of people on the edge of loneliness, abandonment and suffering.

The elderly in our country are often shoved out of sight and mind, forgotten by a greedy and distracted  and aspiritual culture. These women are often all that stands between them and a life of struggle and disconnection. They are family and friends and caretakers.

They are Bodhisattavas.

I think the Five Bodhisattvas are a good name for them, even if it is not a name they would ever call themselves. They are the very definition of selflessness.

They live it.