Will God Remember Me When I Can’t Remember Him?
Posted By Bill on January 23, 2012
This weekend, I saw the movie, “The Iron Lady” starring Meryl Streep. It is the story of the latter years of Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of England. She is in declining health due toseveral strokes and the apparent onset of dementia.
Regardless of your politics, this movie gives some keen insights into the life and experience of someone moving into the debilitating valley of suffering, deteriorating memory and cognitive ability, and the losses that come with them.
As I watched the movie, I found myself visiting places in my own memory, my own aging process, and my ministry with persons either experiencing debilitating diseases of the mind such as dementia and Alzheimer’s; as well as caring for those who care for them and often have to make the excruciatingly painful decision to place their loved one in a care facility.
If there is one word that characterizes the downward spiral of these diseases, it is “Loss” – loss of memory, loss of recognition, loss of identity, and loss of all that constitutes unique relationships – husband, wife, parent, child, and friend.
At 25, my mortality and possible declining health weren’t even on my radar. Today, I am 60. My age in proximity to persons in my congregation who are being touched by these diseases, often causes me to pause and reflect. I realize that I may be walking their path, sooner rather than later. Occasionally, I will encounter someone a few years younger than me with one of these diseases. My mother had the beginnings of dementia, not officially diagnosed, but having all of the symptoms. It is painful watching life ebb away. I can’t imagine being aware of your memory and cognitive abilities slowly evaporate.
I ponder. How can I minister to them as their capacity to comprehend diminishes? How can I care for their spouse and family? How can I deal with my own stuff?
Then there are questions that seem to become more and more important as I age: Will God care about me in my old age? Will God still have a place for me when I am old and frail? Will God remember me when I can’t remember him or anything else? Will God remember me when I am old and grey?
God is gracious in my moments of pondering. He usually touches my life, when I am not pondering. It comes out of the blue. I collided with a scripture that anchored itself dead center in the midst of my ponderings.
Actually, it collided with me. It was Psalm 71. It’s a prayer of an elderly person, asking God not to forget him in old age. The Psalmist is asking the same questions many of us ask. His prayers come with the determination and faith that he will continue to praise God.
Maybe, in a simple but not simplistic way, the heart of ministry to older persons, especially those suffering the ravages of the diseases of the mind and body as well as their families, is simply to remind and reassure them that God has not and will not forget them, even when they can’t remember him.
As to “The Iron Lady”, it is a gripping, thought provoker. It has provoked a lot of ponderings within me.
I’m glad I can ponder these things now. The day may come when I can’t ponder anything at all. I won’t even remember God. Even in that day, I am confident that God will still remember me.
What are your thoughts? What have your experiences been?
Blessings
Bill
