Memory

One of the signs of old age is memory lapses.  Sometimes we forget where we put our things.  At one time, I misplaced my key pouch, containing my house keys.   We are also creatures of habit and usually like to put things in a usual place.  So when I tried to retrieve my key pouch from the side pocket of my car door (where I usually put it), I found it wasn't there; instead I found a packet of sweets.  I thought I left my key pouch at home and went up to my flat to search for it. But it wasn't at home either.  Of course at this point in time, I was scratching my head (or memory) to ascertain where my key pouch could have gone.  Could I have dropped it somewhere?  I breathed a prayer to God.  I went back to my car to have a closer look and did some searching.  I opened up the glove compartment, lo and behold it was there!   At that point, my memory came back to piece the jigsaw.  I remembered earlier I took a sweet from the glove compartment and somehow by mistake I left the key pouch in the compartment and the sweet in the side pocket.

Such memory lapses are not as bad as those that progresses towards total memory loss leading to Alzheimer's disease or those related to dementia.  People will forget events and not recognise themselves or those that they love.  I remember an elderly brother in church who often asked me to pray for his memory as he fears losing it.  One way to keep our grey matter (and memory) working in our old age is to do things that would engage our mind such as reading, playing mahjong, doing crosswor puzzles, having a conversation with people, etc.  Not forgetting to eat healthily and have regular exercise to keep the blood circulating in our brain.    It is certainly not an easy thing to take care of a person who is suffering from dementia; it would take a toll on the care-givers.  So we can do our loved ones a great favour by taking care of our own physical and mental health. 

Our memory is at its best when we are young.  That's why it's important to teach our children (whether knowledge, skills, values or attitudes) when they are still below the age of 10.  The Bible instructs us, "Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, 'I find no pleasure in them'" (Eccl 12:1).  Troubles will definitely come in life and if our children do not have anchors for their souls, they would be tossed about in a sea of distress and confusion.   As such, in the foundational years of our children, they should be brought up in the fear and instruction of the Lord through age-appropriate, fun activities that direct their thoughts and meditation toward God.  We used to have regular family time when our children we much younger comprising of 4 components: Worship, Bible reading, Prayer and Games.  Because there were four of us, we rotate about taking charge of each component.  The Games component was the one that the children enjoyed the most as they had lots of fun.

This is holy week and we remember our Lord's death on the cross through the sacrament of holy communion which Jesus instituted.  God knows that we are frail humans who forget His goodness and grace easily; that's why the emblems (bread and wine) are there to remind us.  The children of Israel celebrated the Passover to remind their descendants of God's deliverance from death and slavery. An act by our Lord which is not often enacted by the Protestant church is the washing of the disciples feet.  Through this act, Jesus wants His church to demonstrate humility in service, just as He came to serve and not to be served.  While we remember God and His works, God also remembers us!  One of the dying thieves on the cross asked Jesus to remember him when He comes in His kingdom (Lk 23:42).  Jesus promised that he would be with Him in paradise that very same day.  We are also told that a book of remembrance will be written for those who fear and serve the Lord (Mal 3:16-18), and the Lord knows those who are His (2 Tim 2:19). What a comforting thought!    Should the time come when our memory fails us, we know that the Lord would not fail to remember us. 



      

Fears

Fear (or phobia) is a valid human emotion which all of us have experienced in one form or another.  In fact, there are so many different types of fear that linguists have coined words to label them.  It can range from the inanimate such as fear of heights (acrophobia) and fear of darkness (achluophobia) to the animate such as fear of insects (acarophobia) and fear of people (anthropophobia).  People who have many fears are suffering from polyphobia.  Fear is an instinctive human response to potential danger, whether they be rationale or otherwise.  What happens when we are fearful is that chemicals would be released in our body causing our heart to beat rapidly, our blood pressure to increase and so forth.  We can identify with this kind of responses when we we have a near-missed or an actual car accident on the road; of course, we are still alive to tell the tale. 

Children are often fearful of the dark, imagining all kinds of creatures that could lurk there.  They will usually grow out of it when they are older.  Creepy crawlies is another common fear among children; even adults may be fearful of them.  Just recently, I saw a girl in school jumped up when she saw a monitor lizard on the trunk of a tree, though she was quite a distance away from it.  Many children, including adults, are afraid of cockroaches, especially the flying kind.  They would run away to hide or lock themselves in their rooms.  But seriously, the monitor lizards and cockcroaches won't be able to kill us (logically speaking) but for some of us, just the thought of them crawling all over us can already send a spine-chilling sensation down our body and that is the fear factor.   As a parent, even though you may be fearful of creepy crawlies, you would have to overcome your fear to get rid of them, especially in the home, unless of course you have a helper at home to do the job.   My colleague was sharing that if there is a cockroach in the house, she would ask her domestic help to get rid of it.  She does not want to let her children know as they were not afraid of it and would catch it to frighten her. 

I would like to discuss regarding the fear of death or dying (thanatophobia) which may be plaguing many people.  The Bible does talk about this in Heb 2:14-15 (NIV):

"Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might break the power of him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil -  and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death."

Death is no respecter of persons.  Whether we are young or old, rich or poor, famous or unknown, all would be subjected to it.  The only exception would be the believers living during the time when Christ returns.  In the verses above, we are told that the devil has the ability to put fear in people through his control over the power of death.  This fear can be paralysing for some because they do not know what lies beyond the grave.  But for those of us who know Jesus Christ, we have the blessed assurance that we will meet Him when we die.  God used the death of His beloved Son on the cross of Calvary to overcome death, both physical and spiritual.

Spiritual death has to do with separation from God.  Whether Jews of Gentiles, we, who were once far away from God, have been brought near to Him by the blood of Christ restoring the broken fellowship that the devil initiated at the garden of Eden (Eph 2:13-18).  When we are restored in our relationship with God, the devil can no longer enslave us through his power of death.  Some may not believe in the spiritual realm, thinking that death is the end of all things.  Yet others may believe in moving on a different realm of existence whether through reincarnation or otherwise.  According to their beliefs, people will live out their lives on earth. 

Physical death has to do the ceasation of our vital human organs, especially the heart and brain.  When that happens, the body would turn cold with its life taken out.  The physical body is but a housing for our soul and spirit which would live on.  Our current body is stained with sin and sickness, and cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.  God has in store for the believers glorified bodies which He would give on resurrection day.  That is when the spirit and soul would be clothed with immortality and death would have been swallowed up in victory (1 Cor 15:54).  Death would no longer reign but rather life, because Jesus is the Life (Jn 11:25; 14:6).

We can face death in the face when we have Jesus in our hearts.  And in the words of the hymn:
And because He lives, I can face tomorrow
Because He lives, all fear is gone
And because I know, I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living just because He lives