So what's the verdict: Do mental exercises like crossword puzzles help delay the damage old age can do to our brains?

Over the years, I've seen lots of reports claiming that they can do precisely that -- the implication being that all we really need to do to avoid heading down the path to mental deterioration is to keep our brains active. You know, instead of relaxing into the mental sloth associated with soap operas and napping, we should simply devote ourselves to puzzle-solving. 

But more recently, I've also seen some indications that taking our little gray cells through daily workouts really doesn't make any difference. And I have to admit that some of my elderly friends who are the most confused also maintain the most impressive libraries of highbrow books that they have presumably read over the course of their lifetimes.

Then there are the reports that straddle the fence on this issue -- including a 2011 study concluding that crossword puzzles do indeed delay the onset of dementia by 2.54 years. But eventually decline sets in at an even faster pace among the intellectually fit, so that, in the end, we all end up in the same place. 

Still, it seems like it's worth a try, doesn't it? At least crossword puzzles' side effects are practically non-existent, compared with those of the pharmaceuticals that supposedly keep us sharper longer. A 2013 review of the medical literature found that while these drugs may offer some short-term benefits, those benefits last on average just 18 months -- and in the meantime the drugs can cause both headaches and all kinds of nasty GI troubles. 

Personally, I think I'll forego the pharmaceuticals in favor of daily coconut oil and sign up for a lifetime subscription to Logic Lovers Logic Problems. 

A new study of 625 people aged 90 and up indicates that high blood pressure might actually reduce one's chances of developing dementia -- the higher the better, apparently.

The researchers' findings are certainly interesting. Will high blood pressure one day appear on the list of "good for us" items along with other long-maligned things like eggs, butter and carbon dioxide? 

But hold on, how can this be? How can high blood pressure possibly have any advantages?

That's a good question -- one that one of the researchers answered thusly: "Perhaps people who live to very advanced ages have a kind of 'super health' that helps them withstand the impact of high blood pressure."

"Super health"? But let us not confuse that with anything smacking of the "supernatural," right? Say, for instance, King David's assertion in Psalm 139: 

And in Your book they all were written,
the days fashioned for me,
when as yet there were none of them.  

That would imply, of course, that the Creator God of the Bible is the One responsible for everything about us except for the free will that He has left in our charge. Can't have that, now, can we?

Until secular scientists have figured out a God-free solution to this new medical puzzle, sit tight and don't dump your prescriptions just yet; the researchers are not recommending any changes in treating hypertension at this point. Stay tuned!

"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

I spent the last hour of this week's nursing-home day sitting in the facility's lovely courtyard with a group of long-term residents, all women. It was a delightful time of fellowship with people who have only one major thing in common -- the fact of having likely reached the last stop in long lives, well lived. 

If I had to sum up what I witnessed in just a couple of words, it would be just this: agape love.

One of the things that struck me, for instance, was how compassionate these people are, how forgiving of each other's limitations. 

For example, one dear woman repeated herself, again and again. No one mentioned it; instead, they responded as if they were hearing her comments for the first time, every time. This patience didn't hurt them one bit, and it made the speaker feel that she was contributing to the conversation. Perhaps they're all simply good-hearted; perhaps they are all too aware that they may well be doing the same thing a month or two down the road. The motive doesn't matter when the outcome is charitable.

Another very sweet woman was having a terrible time completing any sentences. The others stepped in to help her find the words she was looking for; their interest and assistance were obviously very welcome. 

Then the group began complimenting this same woman on how attentive and devoted to her well-being her children are. They agreed, one and all, that she is among the most fortunate and beloved of all. 

She beamed.  

Joining us halfway through our time together was a 70-something man who's been there for months recovering from major surgery. He is an amazing fellow -- I don't believe I've known another resident like him in the two decades I've been hanging out at this place. He's not simply friendly to his elders in the "hi, how are you?" sense; he treats them all as his companions and contemporaries. 

This man actively engages even the shyest residents in conversation. He remembers to ask follow-up questions about the events of their lives, from a bout with a cold to a child's job search. He teases many of them -- something that seems to be pretty rare in a nursing-home setting. He talks with them about a wide range of topics, including current events and spirituality; he never equates great age with stupidity. And indeed, lively conversation seems to ensue whenever he shows up.  

Agape love is, among other things, unconditional and self-sacrificing, patient and kind and utterly devoid of pride. And it's just what I saw in overdrive in the courtyard this week. What treasure! And it's available to anyone who can find a little time to spare for these wonderful old folk. 

Amazingly, healthcare powerhouse Merck admits, in its famous Merck Manual, that elderly people "who are actively involved in religious groups, particularly those in major religious traditions, tend to be healthier." What's more, says Merck, "Health care practitioners should support the patient's religious involvement as long as it does not interfere with necessary medical care because such involvement may contribute to good health." 

Never mind that "religious involvement" on some level is foundational to grasping the truth of where we came from, what we're doing here and where we're going -- in particular, where we will spend eternity. If caregivers welcome visits from Christians only for the sake of temporal health, so be it. Hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ will undoubtedly draw some elderly folk through the narrow gate to eternal life even if their caregivers are only trying to help them feel a little better.    

This is especially good news for long-term-care residents living in facilities run by the spiritually dead. After all, Merck's advice may persuade such operators to ramp up their spiritual offerings, solely to make their lives easier; who cares about their motives, as long as residents are exposed to the gospel? 

As the apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 1:15-18, "Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from good will: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice."  Amen!