Not long ago, I had the chance to watch the critically acclaimed 2006 movie “Away from Her.” Starring the still-gorgeous Julie Christie, it’s the story of a husband and wife – Grant and Fiona – whose relationship is about to undergo monumental and permanent changes. Fiona, you see, has Alzheimer’s.  And the disease has progressed enough that, early on in the movie, she decides it’s time for her to move into a nursing home.
 
There are no real surprises in this story. Fiona becomes increasingly forgetful, stops recognizing her husband, attaches herself to another resident. Grant is miserable, visits Fiona often, becomes lonely, seeks the advice of a nurse with a heart of gold. She tells him that Fiona may yet have some lucid periods, but that he shouldn’t get his hopes up because they won’t last. And indeed that’s precisely what happens in the end; but because of heart-of-gold’s warning, Grant doesn’t take even a moment’s break from his misery.
 
And there you have it: another beautifully filmed tear-jerker delivering a clear message of hopelessness.
 
Which is pretty much the message most critically acclaimed American movies, novels, and TV shows have been delivering for the last 50+ years. No wonder there’s so much despair in our culture today.
 
But get this: one doesn’t encounter much of this relentless gloom at nursing homes. Sure, there’s day-to-day unhappiness over the kids’ failure to visit or an aide being disrespectful, and certainly those with unrelenting pain or severe disabilities are far from delighted with their current circumstances.
 
But there’s a huge difference: Even through such suffering, many – perhaps most – of today’s nursing home residents are leaning on the everlasting arms of God. They are resting in the certainty that, no matter how bad things get in this life, the best is yet to come. And the older they are, the more certain they are that heaven will be their next stop, their home forevermore.
 
Sadly, this is beginning to change, as people who came of age in the post-war years check in to long-term care. There seems to be less assurance of heaven, less faith in God’s love for them, less confidence that they will ever escape from the downward slide their bodies have taken. Astoundingly, there also seems to be less interest in hearing evidences for happily ever aftering.
 
There are no doubt many reasons for this growing agnosticism among the newly elderly. But I think we can put a lot of the blame on Hollywood, and on our lack of discernment in the face of attractive actors, heart-wrenching story lines and lavish cinematography.  
 
The solution? At the very least, we should take the time to analyze the messages that we’re being fed by the entertainment industry – and to reject anything that’s simply emotional, unprovable or an outright lie.  
 
Then we should give God equal time to make His case for forever, via the Bible, sound teaching, and fellowship with born-again believers. Because here’s the truth: No one has to end his life like Grant and Fiona did, in hopelessness and despair.  For anyone willing to repent and trust in Christ, the best really is yet to come.

A couple years ago, I reported on what seemed to be a new trend in Germany: sending elderly nursing-home residents to live in much cheaper facilities in Eastern Europe.
  
Wondering if this is still an issue, or if Germany had perhaps come up with a better solution, I’ve spent hours searching for updates. But they sure are hard to come by.  It seems that shipping an aging parent across a border or two, or even halfway around the world, is no longer a bit controversial; if it must be mentioned at all, it’s amidst a flurry of assurances that caregivers in poorer nations are very loving and far more attentive than those in the more “advanced” nations of the west.
 
In a BBC report, for instance, we meet a Swiss woman who sent her mother to a nursing home in Thailand. She seems very pleased with the arrangement.  “"The treatment is so much more individual, and, how shall I say, with love.” Plus, she is able to visit her mom at least twice a year! (Europeans’ devotion to vacationing comes in very handy in this situation.)
 
There’s a great deal of public fear about putting the elderly in nursing homes, the BBC story admits, particularly because of the potential for abuse. But apparently that fear vanishes when the homes are far, far away.  “Thailand has a strong culture of looking after its elderly,” the reporter explains, disposing of that concern once and for all.
 
Indeed. I guess we are no longer a culture "looking after its elderly," now that Commandment #5 – "honor your father and mother" – has been amended with an important condition: “unless it’s too inconvenient or costly.”
 
After all, one German son featured in a cheery report found that he could ship his mother off to Slovakia for the duration without having to sell her house or part with any of his own money; her pension covers 100% of Slovakian care. What a deal!
 
Visiting doesn’t seem to be an issue, either. The elderly women mentioned in the stories I read all had dementia, and so allegedly were already unable to distinguish their kids from Adam. It’s unclear whether that’s always the case with these elderly exports. Unclear, too, whether the touch of a caregiver who doesn’t even speak your language would be an adequate substitute for your own child’s voice and embrace.   
 
Given our nation’s economic and demographic realities, I’m guessing that we baby boomers may find out for ourselves before all is said and done.