Notes from my Knapsack 4-7-24

Notes from my Knapsack 4-7-24
Jeff Gill

The politics of public health and cognitive decline
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We're eight months away from the presidential election, and I have something to say.

It's from the heart, and it's not really meant to be political at all, but in a time when everything seems to be politicized, sometimes you just have to "grasp the nettle" and grab an issue as firmly as you can, discomfort aside.

In the discussions around the two leading candidates currently, the word "dementia" is getting tossed around rather casually.

This is where I can easily envision partisans rising up in a cold fury, or even something hotter, to retort angrily to my obtuseness.

One candidate, the older one to be sure, has the tag "dementia" attached to him quite often. I doubt this very much. My concern in looking at him is that I read his appearance as "frail," which is not unusual for someone into their 80s. Frailty is an issue, and I can discuss that as a reason for one's support or opposition.

The other candidate is chronologically not far behind, though, and his affect is often one of manic self-regard, if not showing a bit of cognitive decline himself. Those who are firmly opposed to him will often throw the word "dementia" around in his direction, too.

If you're still with me, I'd like to make a totally non-partisan distinction between cognitive decline and dementia. Any of us can have cognitive decline, such as me before my morning coffee. Cognitive decline can be something that comes and goes, and in cases where it's the result of an illness or physical condition, it can be reversed. Dementia is something that we can in a very few cases slow but in no way stop it.

Columbia University researchers recently found that around 10% of U.S. adults 65 and older have some form of dementia, while another 22% have mild cognitive impairment. Paralleling those findings, the Alzheimer's Association says 1 in 3 seniors will die of some form of dementia.

It's worth pointing out this means 2 of 3 seniors won't. Not everyone gets dementia, or even shows significant cognitive decline, just by getting older. Some of the sharpest people I've known were in their 80s and 90s.

But dementia is a steadily increasing problem in our country, with 6 million Americans believed to have Alzheimer's right now, and that number expected to reach 13 million by 2050. There's no pill or surgery that cures it. Those with dementia need care, which is personal and challenging, and one way or another expensive. We all need to talk about dementia and how to deal with it when it arises in our families and friend groups.

The current political debate is not helping. Dementia is not a casual insult. It's a diagnosis, and a reality all around us. I hope we can change how we see and share what we know, as we work and pray for better solutions ahead.


Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; he's working with dementia related issues these days, but you figured that out already. Tell him how you deal with dementia in your circles at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack77 on Threads.

Faith Works 4-1-24

Faith Works 4-1-24
Jeff Gill

Prayer and evangelism may be the combination you need
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Easter is a month away and coming in fast. If you observe Lent, we're well into it, but plenty of that season left for prayer and preparation.

Last column I talked about prayer, on a very elementary level, and heard some useful feedback on how that landed for people looking at first steps. But I also had some questions around next steps, and was thinking in the car about what I could helpfully commend.

Then I got home, and saw where Geoff Mitchell, friend and colleague in ministry serving a congregation in Memphis, posted something on Threads (@pastorgeoffrey) that was much better than what I had in mind, and it's not stealing if I give credit, right?

Geoff said "Take a moment this week to empower leadership. Invite them to identify four people in their circle they will pray for between now and Easter. If they get a chance to invite, great, but they will pray for them. Prayer, not programs, helps us reimagine evangelism."

Did you get that? Invitation to worship is fine, but don't force it. In fact, don't worry if a natural opportunity doesn't come up. What if, I think my friend in Tennessee is saying, we live as if what we believe is true, that prayer has power all its own, and God might be able to work through it in ways we can't even imagine?

Consider four people you know you would ask blessings for, and pray that they might be blessed. Not as a program or a first step to your invaluable next contribution, not as a stage in a process where you have the primary responsibility: you simply pray for four people between now and Easter.

What if, and I'm just going off on my own now, what if you pray for four people, and you end up with opportunities arising in your life to invite four completely different people to a sunrise service, your Easter observance, to a work project going on this spring through your church? Does that mean your prayers didn't "work"? Or is it possible we tend to see prayer more like motor oil, an additive that lubricates other actions we undertake, and our spiritual lives as the engine, when that metaphor might have it backwards?

Prayer is powerful. That's a baseline assertion of most spiritual traditions. There are disagreements around technique and practice, but the common thread is that through prayer we are connected to power and initiative that's larger than we are, wider than our own horizons, deeper than even the immensity of now as we know it.

Praying for others isn't something we do for ourselves, but it's an open secret that praying just for ourselves is a fast ticket to nowheresville. That's how you get stuck in a loop of wants and disappointments. To open the loop by praying for others opens up our own hearts to letting go of some wants, and finding new, unexpected fulfillments.

Meanwhile, we pray for others not to reach the outcome we ourselves have figured out is what they need: we pray for blessing. We ask that our time and intention in prayer open up blessings for others, and then are privileged to witness how that can happen, which may well surprise us.

Or as Geoff suggests: "identify four people in [your] circle [you] will pray for between now and Easter. If [you] get a chance to invite, great, but… pray for them. Prayer, not programs, helps us reimagine evangelism."

Because evangelism is, at root, simply sharing good news. Not a program.


Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; he likes to learn from others as well as praying for them. Tell him how you've seen good news at work in another's life at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack77 on Threads.