2013 A.D.: Alzheimer's is fast growing major U.S. malady?
Some reports are saying that the problem of Alzheimer's is growing at an alarming rate, since the number of baby boomer and later aged persons is swelling and will continue to swell the proportions of the elderly in our nation. One February 7th Fox News report written by Rachael Rettner titled "Population with Alzheimer's Disease Will Triple By 2050" mentioned a study that has extrapolated that there may be over 13 million Americans with that disease by 2050 A.D.
Currently we could add up the populations of our 12 lowest population U.S. states and be right around that number. The actual populations of all states in 2050 A.D. should be much higher, of course. But it draws a foreboding picture in your mind to imagine being able - right now - to drive through about 12 different U.S. states in which every single person - man, woman, and child, numerically speaking - suffered from Alzheimer's. That's again a projected 2050 number applied to today's lowest population states, but...wow! That's a lot of Alzheimer's sufferers!
Alzheimer's is a disease of FORGETFULNESS in a way. There's a lot more to it. You often can't recognize loved ones, for instance, as it progresses. Names become harder to remember, dressing correctly can become difficult, drawing certain shapes, remembering where things were placed, and more. In the end Alzheimer's Disease damages many brain functions. But in the earlier stages, it is often characterized by a person becoming more and more FORGETFUL as you become less and less functional in going about your daily activities. It's a tragic disease for both the victim and their loved ones.
In a way it is odd though. America has been blessed by God perhaps as much or more than nearly any other nation. But despite this, we are FORGETTING Him that blessed us. We don't thank Him for meals as much or ask His blessing on them. We aren't teaching kids the 10 commandments or the teachings of Jesus throughout the land, we don't have regular prayer to God and Jesus in school. We, one of the most abundantly blessed nations ever, have FORGOTTEN to thank and honor our God and Maker, and His Son Jesus, our Savior. We American Christians are FORGETTING that we are instructed not to live as the world lives. We forget Who gave us all of this abundance and beauty and national peace and prosperity, victory at most times when we regrettably went to go to war, and the blessings of health, of the womb, and of the field.
We have purposely FORGOTTEN to give our God the Holy Father His just due, and now for whatever reason one of our growing national health problems involves FORGETFULNESS, and worse. I'm sure that may be a coincidence. I'm also sure that many who develop Alzheimer's may be Christians that have loved God and were not ungrateful towards Him, or seldom so compared to other Christians. But as a nation, we've been massively FORGETTING to honor and worship the God who made us. And as a nation, we are experiencing a growing rate of Alzheimer's. Maybe there's a spiritual connection that goes along with the physical root causes, apart from any known and concrete biological factors that Alzheimer's stems from.
On the national level, not considering the individual level, does the 'punishment' perhaps 'fit the crime' for the United States? It's a thought. What we do know is that America has been forgetting God, and America has been seeing more of this affliction which causes forgetting. When the Egyptians in Moses earliest youth were Lords of the Israelites, they feared the exploding population of the Israelites and forced them, for a time, to kill their newborn males. Some ended up being placed in the Nile River, it seems. And symbolically you could say that the Nile River was filled with the blood of the Hebrew male babies. So, what does God have Moses do about 80 years later when he returns under God's command to free the Israelites? The first 'plague' of the plagues of Egypt is that the Nile runs red with blood. Egypt and their animals cannot even drink it! What they gave they later got!
Jacob cheated his brother Esau out of his inheritance and his blessing. He had to flee to distant relatives and ended up working for one of them named Laban, who was his mother's brother. Later, when he worked for Laban, he was deceived by Laban on his wedding day just as he had deceived his own brother. He was tricked into marrying a different person than he intended. In a way, Jacob played the deceiver in his youth, and he was tricked later by another deceiver....Laban.
There are numerous examples in scripture of God deciding to let the punishment fit the crime. Who can really say, outside of scripture, when this is or isn't the case. But in our hearts, I think many of us have had something bad befall us and we somehow knew in our minds that it seemed a fitting punishment for sins we knew ourselves to have committed. God is deep, mankind is wicked, our conscience keeps things in mind. Between those three factors alone, there is plenty of opportunity for 'fitting punishments' to arrive at our doorstep. But here's the point: do we pay attention to those things which seem to be signs, or do we press our luck.... eventually to the point where no forgiveness can any longer be extended?