Musings: Notes From My Daybook

Last winter plans were underway to move my parents, Bill and Mary Ellen, to live with my brother, Robert, in St. Louis. Six months ago, it seemed clear and straightforward.

But in the spring Bill was diagnosed with Lewy body disease (LBD). Lewy body is another word for a form of dementia--a progressive brain disease that is the second leading cause of dementia among the elderly. Only Alzheimer's claims more victims. Closely connected to Parkinson's, which my father has has endured for 17 years, LBD only exacerbates the ruthless onslaught of the disconnect of the mind.

Bill and Mary Ellen now live in St. Louis. But Bill sometimes is living in rural Oklahoma in the post-depression years. Sometimes he is worrying about the dairy cows that were sold in 1954. And then, there is the ever present dilemma of remembering where the bathroom is.

The move was not a helpful thing. Everything in his world is now suddenly different. But the grim reality about LBD is that what is happening now would happen sooner or later. There is no escape.

So now, at least, Mary Ellen and Robert have teamed up. Robert watches Bill while Mary Ellen takes a shower. Or Robert runs to the grocery so that Bill is never, unless he is sleeping, left unattended. So together, the are walking a trail with Bill. A family bounded together by blood, but not always by memory.

George Will (thanks to Pat for pointing this out to me) eloquently speaks to the pain of dementia earlier this week. Read his piece and remember all the Bill's and Louise's around us.

Skye Jethani's piece in Christianity Today highlights the worldview shift that has occurred in the western world. As Jethani notes, in a culture where the number one leisure activity is shopping, Christianity has simply become another brand one can choose to choose . . . . or not.

Having said some of these things in recent weeks through a message series on worship, I resonate with Jethani's thesis. Christian people may not be particularly different than their non-Christian neighbors. And when it comes time to head to the mall, the Christian faith doesn't seem to faze our fascination with self-identity with what we purchase. Jethani quotes Mark Riddle: "Conversion in the U.S. seems to mean we've exchanged some of our shopping at Wal-Mark, Blockbuster, and Borders for the Christian bookstore down the street. We've taken our lack of purchasing control to God's store, where we buy our office supplies in Jesus' name."

What Jethani doesn't say, but what I fear is that much Christian economic and social activity continues to foster a growing polarization in American culture. If unchecked, the day will come where Christian orthodoxy will be determined by what stores you patronize.

I guess the idea of Christian discipleship being connected to a life characterized by virtue, concern for the poor, and Christian witness just doesn't sell.