We usually laugh at our so-called “senior moments” - a temporary lapse of memory. But at the mention of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease our reaction is different. Statistics show that by 2050, the number of Americans with Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia could soar to 16 million. No joke. Nothing to laugh at.

But what can be done? We've been told that doing things to keep our minds active are helpful. I like to work word games but I wonder how effective that is. 

A new approach is being developed….so called memory clubs or gatherings of persons who participate in memory exercises in a group setting . Luther Manor, in connection with researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is currently sponsoring Jump Start classes - a study to determine the positive effect of early memory loss programs.

An article in the March 2009 resident newsletter says: “The broad goal of this ground-breaking research project, supported by the Helen Bader Foundation, is to determine whether participation in the class enhances memory and thinking skills and decreases the burden and stress associated with very early memory loss. Predictions suggest participants will prove to be more engaged and attentive, leading to decreased rates of cognitive decline. Other expected outcomes include a decrease in depressive symptoms and an increased sense of well being for those experiencing the early stages of dementia, as well as fewer burdens, less depression and improved quality of life for caregivers.”

One of the Jump Start participants said;” I started to stay home and close myself in because I didn't trust my ability to converse with others. I've found that I need to do just the opposite and be around people.”

The program uses memory enhancement exercises, provides information on brain health and function and encourages participants to practice at home techniques to continuously challenge their brains.

Dawn Adler, manager of the Adult Day Center, oversees the Jump Start program. She will be the presenter at our SAINTS gathering on Thursday, Jan. 14. She will tell us more about the program and lead us through some memory exercises. The program will be at 11:00; lunch to follow.

I hope you will mark that date on your calendar and join us. Don't forget!

A friend I never met has died.  On November 7, 2009, the Rev. Dr. Herbert Brokering died of congestive heart failure at the age of 83. He was a pastor, seminary professor, mentor, teacher (often at Holden Village) writer of lyrics of hymns (Earth and All Stars, Thine the Amen), devotionals, reflections and over 50 books.  He was a world traveler and a guide to over a hundred Luther sites.  When my children were young we used devotions prepared by him and his wife, Lois.  He wrote the words. Lois provided activities to enhance the words.  Indeed, he has been a part of my life for many years.

His last position was as an associate staff person for Wheatridge Ministries.  It was Wheatridge that provided a grant toward the startup of our SAINTS.

His words have continued to speak to me.  The following is an excerpt of a devotional he wrote when he was 82.  I think it will speak to you as well.

John 3: 16-21
"We are not meant to live in the dark.
I often close my eyes and think and feel and pray my way through the dark. Alas, I know the dark. Advent, to me, is dark, wintry, cold, desert, quiet. God comes to us in the winter, in the coldest times, in the hard and bitter times. Incarnation comes to a birthing room not meant for a king or prince or any newborn – a cattle stall. God comes to low degree, and exalts. Christmas! Then comes Epiphany, the burst of light, the rays of fire and good news and light and glory into all the world, to all people. Epiphany is filled with light.
Then suddenly comes dark, the night of ashes and the mark of death and cross on brows and hands all over the earth. Ash Wednesday! From ashes we came and to ashes we will return. These are some of the most sober words I have said facing young and old in ministry. “From dust you came and to dust you will return.” And so we are moving back into a season of cold and winter and war and the journey of life. Alone? No! God is going all the way with us. Better, we are going all the way with God, as we journey with Jesus.

I frighten rather easily. I need someone by my side, or ahead, and behind me. I do not like walking alone through a valley or around a bend or through hurt. I do not like walking to Good Friday by myself. Pain, suffering, death, alone? Please, no! After 82 years I know the markers along the way. I know the way, but someone go with me.

My God, I need my medicine: saints, friends on every side.
I tremble deep inside
The path seems one I do not know
Too dark, too deep, too steep, too wide
But when I see with eyes of faith
Good saints on every side
I heal with those who know the path
We’re not alone; we’re side by side
...Where I live winter can be overcast and dark. In the hallways I often hear the whisper, sometimes a cheer, “the sun is out today!” I did not know; I had not looked out. I go to a window. Epiphany! The light is bright, the Son is out. The star has burst!  Wait! Wait! The light will blaze. Glory will be outside the window. The Son will be out.

We are meant to come through the dark and live in the light.

Prayer: O God, You take us through dark to light, through valleys to open plains, through winters to warm, through fear to joy. You do not fear the dark, the freeze, or pain or death. When we are in these places and times, You are already there, waiting for us. We know this through the life of Christ our Savior, our Brother. Amen."

May you know light and warmth and have good saints on every side.  A most blessed Christmas to you all.

Advent is a time of anticipation…
of waiting for Christ. This prayer speaks of waiting
through uncertain times.

I AM WAITING, LORD
by Jessie R. Sandberg
I am waiting, Lord, and I feel immobilized by fear—frozen by the things I do not understand. I cannot step ahead toward goals that once seemed so obtainable. Late storms have brought disaster to my landscape. Familiar things seem somehow not to sit quite soundly on their old foundations.

Strange shifts of angles in the shape of forms once stable and secure confuse me, make me lose my compass-point. Where to turn? What to do? I have no clue as to the future. My options have dissolved and trickle away with the run-off from the storm. And so I wait ... Lord, help me not to simply sit among my broken things, turning them over and over in my hands, grieving for the past. Teach me in my waiting to find the valued remnants and store them in a place quiet and safe. Help me to take the time to bury dead dreams with dignity--not to wallow in regrets nor to collect small grievances.

Let nothing be wasted in this crisis that has seemed to stop the clock and lock the door to all I felt most precious.

Help me to watch beyond my altered skyline for that first faint glow of Morning Sun. Let me wrap myself in faith and snuggle down with hope. Help me to discern, even now, the soft gilding of these ruins with early dawn. Let me see
approaching with the morning light, the form of Him who stills the storm and transforms with His presence.
–From the book: “Letting People Off the Hook”

At our SAINTS October gathering while Robert Teske of the Milwaukee County Historical Society was showing slides of Milwaukee area landmarks, I stood at the back of the room listening to the responses to his questions on what each landmark photograph showed. I was impressed with the memory of those in attendance. It was good to remember.

But I was a bit sad as I thought of so many who were not present because of illness or relocation - or death. When I got home I pulled out a book I had purchased when the library had a sale on books they had culled from their inventory - About Dying by Sara Bonnet Stein, written especially for children and their parents in 1974. I found the paragraph I was looking for: “Mourning is not just feeling sad. It is the specific psychological process by which human beings become able to give up some of the feelings they have invested in a person who no longer exists and extend their love to the living. Mourning is hard, emotional work. It is pulling memories into focus and allowing ourselves to be touched by the feelings they carry with them. It is struggling with guilt that we might have done better and anger that we are left alone. It is taking up the disrupted threads of our life and finding new patterns to weave of them.”

We mourn for so many reasons; the loss of loved ones, the loss of a job, the loss of health, the loss of our home and the fear of losing our memories. As we work to remember may we find new patterns to weave.

Maybe you read it too. The September 2009 issue of the AARP Bulletin reported the findings of a June study in the Archives of Internal Medicine that the more people do socially, the better they do physically. It said that “exercise is good for you, but cognitive and social activity may offer benefits as well.” The 11-year study followed 906 older adults and assessed their ability to walk, grip and balance. The results showed that the fewer social interactions subjects had, the more rapid their loss of muscle control. In fact, each one-point decrease in social activity was associated with about a 33 percent more rapid rate of motor function decline.”

I recently attended a symposium on senior ministry at Luther Manor. Representatives from several ELCA congregations gathered to discuss the way we provide ministry for our older adults. Each congregation received two books. One of the books is No Wrinkles in the Soul - A Book of Readings for Older Adults by Richard L. Morgan.

At the symposium we were asked two questions. What do we look forward to as we age and what do we dread about aging? Many seemed to enjoy more free time to do as we want and being grandparents. Most of us were not happy with memory and physical issues. Pastor Elias Kitoi Nasari was in attendance and commented that in Africa surviving to old age is considered a blessing and becoming an elder in the community is highly regarded. This reading from No Wrinkles for the Soul speaks to that respect due our elders.

It begins with a quote by Maggie Kuhn. “We are not ‘senior citizens’ or ‘golden-agers’. We are the elders, the experienced ones; we are maturing, growing adults responsible for the survival of our survival of our society. We are not wrinkled babies, succumbing to trivial, purposeless waste of our years and our time.

“We are a new breed of old people. There are more of us alive today than at any other time in history. We are better educated, healthier, with more at stake in this society. We are redefining goals, taking stock of our skills and experience, looking to the future. Erik Erikson speaks of old age as a ‘time of integrity’, of absolute honesty in an age that has lost its way, in terms of deception, double-dealing, corruption in high and low places. Old age is also a time for great fulfillment- personal fulfillment, when all the loose ends of life can be gathered together.”

The meditation closes with this prayer: “Redeemer God who strengthens us, help us as older people to stand up for ourselves, lest we fall for anything. Give us the grace not to be angry with others or to let others control us. Help us to be our own persons. Amen.”