My Mom Will Get Her Brain Back: A Reflection on Ash Wednesday

Last updated on: February 18, 2015 at 11:34 am by Kyle Roberts

My Mom Will Get Her Brain Back: A Reflection on Ash Wednesday 2015-02-18T11:34:23-05:00 Kyle Roberts

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Ash Wednesday is a time for reflecting on our mortality. We are dust, we are ashes. We came from the ground, we will go back to it.

I’m thinking about my mom a lot today. She has entered the late stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia, is a neurodegenerative disease. This means that my mom’s brain cells are progressively dying. As the cells die, her brain literally shrinks.

“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

My mom was diagnosed years ago with early onset dementia. This means that, while the rest of her body was healthy, her brain would start to decay. Little protein clumps would insert themselves within her brain tissue, causing a buildup of “plaques” and “tangles” between her cells and neurons.

Most people are aware of what Alzheimer’s does. Among the many horrible symptoms, it causes (eventually) the loss of both short and long-term memory, it makes decision making and problem solving extremely difficult, it causes the loss of awareness of one’s surroundings, creates difficulty in speaking and communication, and causes difficulty with spatial recognition (things we usually take for granted, like eating or even sitting on a chair become extremely difficult). For those who have loved ones with dementia, they know that this description is something of the tip of the iceberg. It is impossible to describe the emotional and relational challenges that come with it–for those who have the disease and for their caregivers.

“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

As I think about my mom today, I also think about the Christian belief in the resurrection in a new way. We are dust, and to dust we return. But…we will get our bodies back. The Christian hope in resurrection is stated in the Nicene Creed, which ends with this line:

We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

This resurrection is no disembodied, ethereal, existence, but is a resurrection of the body. It is physical, though it is impossible to say what that means, exactly. It is a resurrected physicality, a spiritual corporeality. It is new and eternal life–but it is an embodied life.

There are many expressions of hope in many religions. I do not disparage any of those expressions nor do I criticize any source of hope. But I do find that the Christian source of hope in a physical, bodily, resurrection (based in the resurrection of Christ as the “first-fruits”) is a ray of light in a dark world, a source of hope in life, for we who are dying. When I think about my mom–and I realize that her brain is decaying and shrinking, her brain cells are dying, I remember that “we are dust, and to dust we shall return.” But I also believe that my mom will get her body back. She will get her brain back someday. And her memories, too.

Previous Post

February 16, 2015

We Need a Theology of the Cross Now More than Ever

Next Post

February 23, 2015 The Existential Terror of "Birdman"

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month December 2020 November 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 December 2018 July 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz