FINDING LIFE AND LAUGHTER IN THE

SPIRITUAL JOURNEY WITH ALZHEIMER’S

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Under

40

Over 40

At least we understand each other on WedsUnder

40

Over 40

STRESS TEST You will be shown a picture of two

identical dolphins. To the degree you notice any difference

between them, to that degree you are under stress and should take appropriate precautions.

ALZHEIMERS

THERE ARE NO LIMITS TO WHAT

THE HUMAN SPIRIT CAN

DO

THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS TOO OLD

ALZHEIMER’S BEGINS IN THE BRAIN

Explore this mysterious space between our neurons and our nature, between Synapse and soul, between cells and self.

WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PERSON HOOD WHEN COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT BEGINS TO TAKE AWAY WHAT MANY WOULD CALL THE BASIS OF OUR PERSONALITY AND IDENTITY

Is the soul/spirit/essence attached or stapled to the Brain?

WHAT DO NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCES, OUT OF BODY EXPERIENCES AND AWARENESS WHILE UNDER ANAESTHESIA SAY ABOUT THE NATURE OF HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE NATURE OF THE SELF ?

It would seem that if human beings can have some sort of awareness apart from the functioning of their organic brains, then a person is more than the sum total of their neurons firing.

WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS OF THIS FOR SPIRITUALITY IN THE CASE OF

COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT?

TWO ELDERLY MEN ARE TALKING ABOUT THEIR AGING BODIES. “WE FINISH OFF LIKE WE BEGAN. AS BABIES WE HAD NO HAIR, NO TEETH, WERE UNABLE TO WALK AND HAD TO USE A DIAPER. NOW I HAVE LOST MY HAIR AND TEETH, I CAN’T WALK, AND I THINK I JUST PEED MY PANTS.”

I think I just pooped my pants

TWILIGHT TRAVELS WITH MY MOTHER BY MARY ANN MAYO

growing down not up. (pg 147)

WHAT WOULD A SPIRITUALITYOF COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT

LOOK LIKE?

“My Journey into Alzheimer's Disease”

By Robert Davis 

MY JOURNEY INTO ALZHEIMER’S Terrors of losing one’s mind and sense

of self pg 21 effects ,

MY JOURNEY INTO ALZHEIMER’S loss of spiritual comfort 47,

Spiritual distress53 54 Answer to prayer 55 & 56

GREATEST BARRIER TO THE GOAL OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE IS THE EGO.

Babies don’t have egos.

PARTS OF THE BRAIN AFFECTED ARE THOSE THAT PROVIDE THROUGH MEMORY AND LANGUAGE OUR SELF AWARENESS, SELF CONSCIOUSNESS AND IDENTITY.

3 QUESTIONS GOD WILL ASK AT THE END OF LIFE Who are you? What was your purpose on the planet? What have you learned about love? Every one can answer these questions,

even if they can’t speak. Tonight ask these questions of your pet dog and cat. They do not anguish over these questions. The answers are hard wired into their being.

Struggling with these questions is the work of the frontal lobe. When that is taken away, the struggle fades.

IN THE SPIRITUAL JOURNEY THE FIRST HALF OF LIFE IS SPENT ESTABLISHING AN IDENTITY,- LEARNING HOW TO MEET YOUR OWN NEEDS WHILE THE 2ND HALF IS SPENT GETTING THE EGO AND IDENTITY TO MEET THE NEEDS OF OTHERS.WE ALL KNOW THOSE WHO HAVE NEVER GROWN UP-

Prayer: Use me Lord as your instrument. Help me get myself out of your way.

CARL JUNG SAID HE NEVER HAD A PATIENT IN THEIR SECOND HALF OF LIFE WHOSE PROBLEM WASN’T FUNDAMENTALLY ONE OF A RELIGIOUS OR SPIRITUAL NATURE.

Richard Rohr’s tower and jumping off. Paradox of spiritual life: That which is

your greatest gift in life’s first half, without spiritual work, can become your greatest obstacle to growth in the 2nd half.

“MY JOURNEY INTO ALZHEIMER’S”- ROBERT DAVIS, PRESENTS COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT AS PRECISELY THIS PROCESS OF STRIPPING AWAY THAT WHICH PREVENTS US FROM LIVING IN THE NOW, BEING IN TOUCH WITH OUR DEEPEST IDENTITY, AND RECEIVING LOVE AND AFFECTION FROM OUR CREATOR AND OTHERS.

My Uncle - proud intellectual, cultured and worldly wise- yet also stern, removed, and guarded. His Lewy Body illness has taken away these protective defence mechanisms- coping patterns- to reveal a warm and gentle nature.

DAVIS PRESENTS A STARTLING POSSIBILITY:

As he slips further into the shadow lands and fog of Alzheimer’s he experiences a closer and far more intimate connection with his God, than he ever could have imagined at the height of his intellectual capacity. He is hinting that his very dependency, vulnerability and inability to intellectually understand and explain his situation, can be the key that unlocks the doors of surrender, trust and ultimate innocence.

THE DIVINE INITIATIVE Alzheimers presents us with the possibility

that, as in the spiritual life, ultimately it is not about us and what we can do.

Rather it is about The Holy one, and what the Divine can do, when we are at the limits of our abilities.

God speaks all languages.

WHEN LANGUAGE SLIPS AWAY My uncle starts many sentences, but

finishes few. There is obviously a desire to communicate, but the frustration of the broken communication lines is clear. His meaning doesn’t quite get out.

A spirituality of Alzheimers trusts that the Holy one already knows what is intended and hears at this deep level.

Story of old man in back of church. Pastor asks him what he prays about.

JEAN VANIER, IN HIS WORK WITH THE RESIDENTS OF L’ARCHE- PERSONS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS – WOULD ALSO SAY THAT THESE LITTLE ONES WHOM THE WORLD WOULD JUDGE AS LESS THAN HAVE MUCH TO TEACH US ABOUT LIVING SIMPLY AND IN CLOSER CONNECTION WITH TRUE SERENITY AND PEACE IN LIFE

Could this be what the words mean: “Unless you become like little children you shall not enter the kingdom of Heaven”.

PERHAPS THE BEGINING AND THE ENDING OF LIFE CAN SHARE A COMMON SPIRITUAL DYNAMIC

INNOCENCE, GUILELESSNESS, TRANSPARENCY ARE ALL QUALITIES SHARED BY BABIES AND MANY COGNITIVLY IMPAIRED

SHARE IN GROUPS OF 2 OR 3 AN EXPERIENCE WHERE YOU COULD SEE THE UNGUARDED SPIRIT

OF A PERSON WITH COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT.

ANOTHER ASPECT OF DEALING WITH THE COGNITIVELY IMPAIRED IS THE ABILITY TO FIND HUMOR IN RELATIONSHIPS.

SENILITY PRAYER God, Grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,

The good fortune to run into the ones I do,

And the eyesight to tell the difference

HUMOR

Finding Joy2- pg 53 93, 103, 126- 64- 49

PERHAPS THE SECRET TO WORKING WITH COGNITIVELY IMPAIRED AND DEALING EFFECTRIVELY WITH DIFFICULT BEHAVIORS IS MOVING MORE INTO THEIR WAY OF BEING

This may mean connecting not so much on an intellectual level as an affective emotional and relational level.

ALZHEIMERS AND SOCIAL ISOLATIONEarly experiment with babies fed,

diapered but not held- failure to thrive- Recent research shows a similar reaction

in terms of social isolation.

LONELINESS AND RISK OF ALZHEIMER DISEASE Wilson RS, et al. Rush Alzheimers

disease centre. 823 subjects- 4 year study.

Lonely people twice as likely to get Alzheimers as non lonely.

Archives of General Psychiatry 2007 Feb;64(2):234-40

A REPORT ON ALZHEIMER DISEASE AND CURRENT RESEARCH

by Dr. Jack Diamond, scientific director of the Alzheimer Society of Canada

there is another way to induce nerve sprouting; this is by initiating impulses (nerve messages) in the nerve cells. Experimentally this "driving" as it's called is done either by electrically stimulating the nerve cells, or by increasing the "sensory input", that is by providing increased sensory stimulation such as light, touch, sound, and so on.

environmental enrichment", which is a form of increased social stimulation, actually reduces the levels of A-beta and the amyloid deposits.

ALZHEIMERS AND SOCIAL ISOLATION

The emotional benefits of maintaining contact between people with Alzheimer's disease and their caregivers and family members ... but the bottom line is – keep trying to communicate, keep talking, and keep on showing affection like holding and caressing

Descent into discomfort Fear Anxiety Avoidance Depression Despair New life

engagementHope

Peace

Courage

recovery

Surrender

Crisis in health, career, family, emotions, loss or grief, finances, addictions, etc

MAY THE HOLY ONE GRANT YOU THE GRACE TO HOLD LIGHTLY YOUR WONDERFUL POWERS OF UNDERSTANDING AND INTELLECT. MAY YOU FIND THE GRACE TO CONNECT WITH YOUR HEART AND SPIRIT AND TAKE THE RISKS THAT ARE NECESSARY WHEN ONE SOUL TRULY ENCOUNTERS ANOTHER.

THEN WE CAN SAY WITH ANNE MORROW LINDBURGH:

If suffering alone taught wisdom, all the world would be wise since everyone suffers, To suffering must be added, patience, honesty, understanding, compassion and the willingness to remain vulnerable.

AMEN