A Plea for Mercy

Come quickly, LORD, and answer me, for my depression deepens. Don't turn away from me, or I will die. ... Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing. Psalm 143:7, 10

Alzheimer’s is just one of many types of dementia that occur primarily in the older generation in societies around the world. Dementia is the fifth cause of death around the world with Alzheimer’s disease being the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. Beginning with a symptom of forgetfulness that we all experience at sometime, it goes downhill from there. Other symptoms, as listed on the Top 10 Alzheimer’s Signs & Symptoms website, develop progressively including the following:

·         Difficulty planning or completing everyday tasks

·         Forgetting common words or substituting a wrong word

·         Disorientation in time or location

·         Poor or decreasing judgment

·         Problems with abstract thinking

·         Misplacing things in unusual places

·         Rapid changes in mood or behavior

·         Dramatic change in personality

·         Passiveness  and loss of initiative

The quality of life for the Alzeheimer’s patient just gets worse as their condition deteriorates. Memory continues to decline as well as motor skills and eventually the ability to care for themselves at all. The rate of dementia symptoms varies for each patient…and death can occur in three to eleven or even as long as twenty years, according to the Alzeheimer’s  Mayo Clinic website.

An Elephant Never Forgets
Alzeheimer's Patients are not Elephants.

I’m sure the plea of any Alzeheimer’s patient is the same… Come quickly, LORD, and answer me, for my depression deepens. Don't turn away from me, or I will die. ... May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing.

Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave, there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom. Ecclesiastes 9:10

No planning, knowledge or wisdom. That is the appearance that an Alzeheimer’s patient gives…but their lack of communication may be hiding what is going on. Are they pleading on the inside… asking God… May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing?

Prayer ~ Lord God, please be merciful to those with Alzeheimer’s and to their family and friends who are caring for them.

© 2020 Text and painting by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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