Posted 4/14/20
Howdy all! I am sure happy to have you at the digital cornbread table this fine day for a quick discussion of all things dementia-related. It looks like, depending which news you follow, that we are starting to turn a corner in the right way in our little virus thing. Amen…
I just had a quick word or two this morning since it is sure to be a crazy busy day in my world. I am hearing lots of love being given to the medical community, delivery drivers, meal providers, non-profits ( one of which for whom I work), and similar “essential workers”. (BTW…I despise the phrase “essential worker”. It reminds me a little of whites in the south being “more essential” than the freed slaves…or perhaps Germans being a little “more essential” than the Jews in 1939. But, I reluctantly understand that it is just a reluctant term of convenience here.) All of these categories of people greatly deserve our praise, our support, and our prayer! You are holding this mess together and we can’t thank you enough.
My topic for a shout-out today, though, is a typically under-the-radar lot: the seniors in America and elsewhere. Never has there been a time in our history that we needed the storehouse of wisdom found collectively in this demographic. The combined adversity seniors have faced, whether it be one of the many wars they have fought (and won), or having lived through the edges of the Great Depression and/or the Dust Bowl, or having endured governmental scandals, or a million other events, these folks deserve our love and attention.
What have we offered them, perhaps only subconsciously? It can be encapsulated by this fictitious social media post, duplicated 10,000 times: “The Coronavirus is bad! But we have to get the economy going again. You are exaggerating this virus anyway!!! After all, it is only really killing old people.”
Ugggh. America, in its founding, was explicitly Judeo-Christian. (Note: Please don’t come at me with revised history. I have a B.A. in History from a very secular local University. I know/was taught and can refute your arguments.) Capitalism, that we barely cling to today, requires a Judeo-Christian ethic at the least, and what we see today is an utter nose-thumbing at this ethic. Don’t be surprised that you and the kids suddenly think Capitalism is bad. When arrows without the feather run capitalism, expect the worst….and we are seeing this today.
Why do I bring up this facet of Capitalism? Because today, minus the underpinnings of the system, our collective faith, we have reduced the value of life to merely what it can provide to society (at this point). Therefore we abort 3,000 babies in America and have ceased to value seniors like we ought. After all, society says these two groups can’t provide for themselves (and contribute enough any more) and have outlived their usefulness….their utility. I can only imagine what can/will happen to those struggling with disabilities when the luxury of wealth is gone, but I digress.
So, we thank you, seniors. Thank you for sharing experiences…and for passing on wisdom gained from these experiences. And we just thank you for being you! Know that some of us fully care and are on your side. May God bless and protect you through these precarious days and may we not give in to the pressure of a secular culture to disregard you in this time of need.
Note: this shifted mindset also makes fundraising for senior non-profits harder. Schools parade out a cute 1st grader and ask for money…and a society, based completely on utility, says we MUST invest in our future….and it throws money at them. I love and support schools…but there are limits. Seniors and those with dementia have far fewer poster children that society cares enough for. “They have lived a good life” is the replacement philosophy, and this mindset simply needs to change.
Sermonette over.
#EndALZ
Update: I Facetime with mom this morning. All seems to be ok, but I will find out as much as I can in my 15 minutes shortly. I look forward to bringing down the prison walls and seeing her in person again!
Note: If you are interested in giving to a cause in Missouri that is providing over a million meals a year to seniors, consider our non-profit SeniorAge. We have increased our meal output by some 20,000/week more than our already huge amount to meet this demand. We need your donations to continue! 🙂 Thank you in advance. If you want to give closer to home, find your local version here. We are all in this together!
Note: Dementia is NOT a normal part of aging. However, age is the biggest predictor of whether a person will have the disease. The older we get, the more of a chance we have…