Washington Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

By Doug Bing, Washington Conference president

Did you know that four percent of adults over the age of 65 have a dementia diagnosis?

Did you also know that by 2060, dementia cases are expected to double, reaching one million new cases per year? The lifetime risk of dementia is 35% for men and 48% for women. There’s no way to know if you will be one of them. However, there are ways to reduce your risk, including a healthy diet and at least 150 minutes of exercise per week. Mental stimulation and social involvement have also been shown to help lower the risk of dementia.

Being around individuals with dementia can be a sad experience.

The confusion that overtakes those suffering from it, and the pain of watching the mental decline of someone we love, can be deeply difficult. One of the hardest moments is when those with dementia or Alzheimer’s forget the names and faces of those closest to them.

Of course, we often joke that there are things we’d like to forget—times when we acted inappropriately, when we said hurtful things and saw the pain on the faces of those we wounded. Times when our actions caused harm, and we hoped the other person would forget what we did.

I’m glad that God has the ability to forget.

Psalm 79:8 teaches us two important truths:

God covers our iniquities and wipes our record clean. Isn’t that awesome? This isn’t to say that God has dementia—God chooses to forget. And second, God’s mercy comes to meet us. The text even says He comes quickly.

Praise God for His willingness to forget, and praise Him for His speed in showing mercy.

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