A visitor just reminded me of this poem, which I saw some time ago on Facebook. In my experience, it seems like the Alzheimer's patients who have the greatest peace are those whose children and friends continue to visit and love them even as the deep confusion sets in. 

Think this disease won't be an issue for you? Maybe not. But if it hasn't already impacted you in some way, chances are that it will. According to the latest statistics, at age 65 our risk of developing Alzheimer's before we die is 17% -- one in six -- for women and 9% for men (see page 22 in the linked document). And the outlook is increasingly grim as we age.   

I hope we'll each do what we can to comfort those afflicted with any form of dementia. The Lord will be pleased; after all, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress ..." (James 1:27a, NIV)

The Greek language describes at least four kinds of love:

• Storge, meaning the love of family
• Philia, which is the love of close friends
• Eros, or erotic love
• Agape, the unconditional and sacrificial love of the God who is love (1 John 4:8, 16)

 
Most of us are very familiar with the first three kinds of love, but not many of us have knowingly experienced agape. Christians see it in action when we look to the cross, meditate on what the Lord does for us day to day, and examine His promises for all eternity. But it’s rare indeed to see agape in action in the here and now.
 
Yet some of us have the privilege of witnessing it every now and then, when God shines His love through a Christian’s heart and onto those who wouldn’t seem, at least at the moment, to be very lovable.
 
It is beautiful. Breathtaking, in fact.
 
I saw it just recently at the nursing home where I hang out, during our monthly Christian Music Hour. We staffers and volunteers were a bit frazzled, running late in assembling folks in the main dining room for this hour of worship and biblical enlightenment.
 
And so I didn’t take the extra time needed to settle and reassure my dear friend D., who has in recent months become increasingly anxious and fearful; instead, I rolled her geri chair in next to Elivira, a sister in Christ who’s my age. “Please look after D., will you? If she becomes anxious, reassure her until I can get there?”
 
“Of course,” said my friend, who is herself saddled with disabling disorders that might cause lesser spirits to shrink into self-pity and bitterness.
 
We handed out the song books and finally got started. Over the course of the next hour, we worshipped the Lord through both a stirring message* and a dozen lovely hymns, from “Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee” and “In the Garden” to “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” and “Be Still My Soul.”
 
Since I introduce the songs and man the audio equipment, and since we ran out of song books early on and needed to make more copies, I was preoccupied much of the time. But every time I looked D. and Elvira’s way, I saw an amazing sight: Elvira turned in her wheelchair, gazing at D., singing her heart out, the most beatific expression I’ve ever seen transforming her face into one hour-long display of agape love.
 
D. stayed calm throughout the hour, even smiling now and then. How could she not, with all that love shining her way and spilling out on everyone in the vicinity?
 
I don’t know that I’ve ever been so moved in my life.
 
Sometimes I think back on the wonders I’ve seen in my life, back in my pre-Christian days when I poured all my energy into good times and worldly pleasures. And each time I am blown away by how those pleasures pale in the light of agape love, and the transformative effect it has on those who witness it.
 
Sadly, it’s a rare sight in this world, reserved perhaps for hard places like nursing homes and prisons, places populated by people who may not seem to warrant any kind of human love, who haven’t earned it through beauty or achievement or genetic bond.
 
But there’s good news: we don’t have to go far to find such places, to experience the love of God in human hearts, possibly even to serve as a vehicle for it ourselves. These people that Jesus called “the least of these” are all around us; the genuine Christian just needs to go to them, serve them, and love them.
 
*If you’re reading this via email, please click on the title above to be taken to the original post; you can then click on the “a stirring message” link to hear it yourself.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the varying paths we travel to death. Understandably so: I’ve already bid farewell to three great friends this year.
 
Two of these dear people left us after the proverbial “brief illness.” Their deaths were sudden, and unexpected, and as far as I know, not once prayed for by their loved ones.
 
The third died after weeks of excruciating pain. In this case, I’m quite sure that all who cared about him beseeched the Lord to bring an end to his suffering, to take him ever so gently Home.
 
Over the years, I’ve watched other close friends travel far longer and more arduous paths under the burden of diseases like Alzheimer’s, MS, and Parkinson’s.  
Thankfully, I no longer complain about such trials, demanding to know (and refusing to consider) how a good God could allow such suffering and sorrow. Instead, the Lord has used these deaths to bring me back to His word.
 
To Romans 8:28, for example: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
 
And to Romans 1:18-20: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”
 
And to Psalm 51:16-17: “For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God …”
 
The Lord uses death to break our rebellious spirits. To bring contrition to our hearts. To cause us to examine the truth He has written on our hearts. And to work together for the good of those who are His, or will be.
 
He certainly used death in these ways in my life.
 
My mother’s Home-going was not sudden. She died after years of failing health – years that had drawn us as close as two people can be when they occupy different spiritual planes. So close that, when she died, I, still an ardent atheist, was forced into a relentless quest for truth. It turned into a 15-month quest that forced me to evaluate and reject every major religion and worldview until, finally and irrevocably, I found myself at the cross of Jesus Christ.
 
I believe that the Lord does something like this every time He calls someone in death – that He brings the dying and the bereaved to the precipice of forever so that they will ask the most important question of all: “Where am I going to spend eternity?”
 
Sadly, the majority will opt for a Christless forever, choosing instead the impossible task of paying their own sin debt; as Jesus said, “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:14).
 
Maybe those who ultimately reject Christ are simply too in love with their sin to fear final judgment, or too lazy to seek truth. Maybe they are too arrogant to believe there could possibly be just one way to heaven, or too self-righteous to accept a place of eternal punishment.  I could write volumes about each of these attitudes; they surely characterized my thinking throughout my atheist years.
 
But finally, the Lord used death to bring me up short, to cause me to look up rather than to myself for the answers – answers that He graciously provided in the wake of instantly forgiving my entire sin debt.
 
I submit that He is doing exactly that every time He issues the call to eternity. Whether that call is unexpected or long-anticipated, I believe it’s all part of His plan to do whatever it takes to capture our attention once and for all.
 
The Lord does not waste death. Nor does He let anyone head into eternity without issuing a final wake-up call.   

Of my four grandparents, I knew just one – Meta Bendt Foth, AKA Granny, my dad’s mother. The other three died long before I was born, and my knowledge of them is miniscule. 

For instance, all I know about Granny’s husband – pictured above with her at the turn of the last century – is that he fought for Kaiser Wilhelm II, the last German emperor, and immigrated to the U.S. sometime in the 1920s. That’s about it; I don't even know when he died, or where, or of what.  I know absolutely nothing about his parents, or hers – not even their names. And the time for asking has long since passed. 

I don't suppose it makes much difference in the greater scheme of things. All that really matters long-term is where we each spend eternity, and that has nothing to do with how much our descendants know about our lives. 

But perhaps these thoughts suggest a great way for today’s young people to spend some quality time with those who are still with us, particularly their parents and grandparents. 

Here’s the idea: Next time you have a chance, grab a pen and notepad (or laptop or whatever else people use to take notes these days) and interview each one. Ask for their vital statistics, of course, from date and place of birth to their hopes for eternity. Then ask them about the people, places and events that shaped their lives – for example:

• Who were their parents and siblings, and what happened to each of them?
• Where were they during World War II, or the Korean or Vietnam War?
• When and how did they meet their spouses?
• How about their faith, and their church lives?
• Who influenced them most, personally and perhaps professionally?
• Who were their best friends?
• How did they like to spend their free time at various ages?
• What apartments and houses did they call home over the years?

 
And so on and so forth. Just imagine the stories you’ll hear!

Then consider documenting each conversation by writing up your notes and displaying the finished text in a scrapbook, complete with appropriate graphics – family snapshots, maps, even historical photos found online.

​What a wonderful gift such a scrapbook would be for the special people in your lives today, and for you, years down the road, when you get to thinking about the good old days. Which you almost assuredly will, sooner or later. ​

If you have ever had trouble forgiving someone who has hurt you, I hope you will listen to the message below, delivered by Chris Carrillo to the folks at Care-age of Brookfield on August 27th. In just a few minutes, he will take you through Paul’s letter to Philemon on behalf of the runaway slave Onesimus – in the process, revealing the wonderful Gospel picture that these three men painted for us all.
 
As Chris points out, forgiving someone who has caused you great harm can be extremely difficult. But in his epistle to Philemon, Paul made a passionate case for doing just that. And the Lord Jesus Christ showed us by example precisely how. So if you need to be set free from an unforgiving heart – or if someone you love is suffering from the bitterness that is its inevitable result – please take some time to reflect on the situation these men faced nearly 2000 years ago: 

Approaching her 98th birthday, a darling woman I love to pieces has been spending much of her time lately in a state of anxiety. Perhaps most stressful for her, she who invested her life in doing things for others is now stuck in a comfortable-but-cumbersome gerichair recliner, unable to expend her restless energy on any useful task.  “What do I do now?” has become her constant question – one that is not satisfied with “just rest.” She does not want to “just rest.” She wants to get busy.
 
Fortunately, the Life Enrichment specialists at Care-age of Brookfield are always on the lookout for ways to enhance the lives of individual residents – which means, for those who simply cannot relax, creating jobs. Recently, for instance, the incredibly creative Kelly gave our beloved friend the job of ripping colored paper into small pieces. It took her hours to complete the task. And she was happily engaged every moment, at least in part because this was not simply busy work; the paper is being used by multiple residents to create collages for gifting or displaying in their rooms.
 
This outstanding video reminded me recently how wonderful such special, personalized attention can be for the very elderly:

Could vitamin D deficiency increase your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease? It's possible, according to a landmark 2014 study published in the journal Neurology and discussed far and wide since then, including by luminaries at such leading-edge institutions as Mayo Clinic. In fact, the study's authors found that the risk of both Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia increased "markedly" in patients with low levels of D in their blood. 
​
That doesn't necessarily mean we should all run out and by vitamin D supplements, or spend more time in the sun, or consume more salmon, tuna, fortified whole milk, pork, eggs, beef liver, ricotta cheese, or other foods identified as great sources of D. (Why does butter-pecan ice cream never appear on such lists?) The jury is still apparently out on this question.
​
But could it hurt to buy a bottle of supplements?

Well, maybe. We all know about the dangers of getting too much sun, or eating too much of just about anything. The side effects of too much D include weakness, fatigue, dry mouth, nausea, and worse. In fact, if you're trying to correct a D deficiency, you should do it only under the supervision of a healthcare professional. 

But the danger apparently occurs only when you're taking over 4,000 units of D a day, per WebMD; my bottle's gelcaps are only 400 units each. I suppose that means one a day isn't going to do much if you have a problem, and if you don't have a problem, what's the point in taking it? 

Obviously the right way to do this is to get tested for D deficiency, and if you've got it, follow your doctor's instructions. Probably worth it, if it really reduces the risk of these sad diseases. 

In the meantime, it's good to know that Vitamin D can also be helpful for everything from bone health to blood pressure, and may help prevent diseases from autoimmune disorders to cancer. 

Hey, maybe D is the ticket to living forever!? But the jury is still out on that score, too; until you hear otherwise, there's only one sure way to eternal life, and it doesn't come in a bottle.