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Showing posts with the label Finding Grace in the Face of Dementia

A review and a giveaway at Out of the Ordinary

I've posted a review of Finding Grace in the Face of Dementia at Out of the Ordinary today. We are also giving away a copy of the book. You can read the review and enter the giveaway here .

Does that mean they are not persons?

Dr. John Dunlop writes about the importance of honoring dementia patients as God's image-bearers, which I fully affirm, but I think his point is valid for other areas. How do we see people and think about them? Are there certain qualities and categories that would cause us to treat them as less than fully human and less deserving of respect? In the quote below, Dunlop call this devastating and a tragic error . I agree. In a day when there is much confusion as to what it means to be a person, the church must teach a robust view of personhood that is based on our being made in the image of God... if you asked what that really means, it's likely they would say something like, "Well, I guess that means they are like God, they are intelligent, can make their own choices, and have the ability to relate to others." If you probed further and asked, "Does that mean people with severe dementia, who are not intelligent, cannot make their own choices, and do not have ...

Dementia and imago dei

How we measure a person's worth determines how we treat them but also how we see ourselves. The messages we hear from the culture and from our closest influences feed into that understanding. Am I worth something based on my education or salary? Am I worth something because I am married and have children? Am I worth something because of physical abilities or beauty? Am I worth something because my kids have turned out okay and I am set for retirement? These things, which are not bad in themselves, are temporal and can change in a heartbeat. What are we left with when an incurable disease is chipping away at our ability to function at the most basic level? One of the saddest things I have heard from a person with memory loss is, "I can't do what I used to anymore. What is the point of living?" Is that true or is there another source of value that goes deeper? I think there is. We have to go back to imago dei - being made in the image of God. dementia is a threat ...