A Prayer before Leaving<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A prayer for those struggling with Alzheimer's, dementia and other illnesses that rob us of out connection to others: Understand, my love, I found myself\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/2022\/09\/a-prayer-before-leaving\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Prayer before Leaving\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A prayer for those struggling with Alzheimer's, dementia and other illnesses that rob us of out connection to others: Understand, my love, I found myself\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/2022\/09\/a-prayer-before-leaving\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"What God Wants for Your Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-09-06T09:54:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/174\/2021\/02\/nathan-dumlao-k-oS0iKn0Qg-unsplash.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Frederick Schmidt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Frederick Schmidt\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/2022\/09\/a-prayer-before-leaving\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/2022\/09\/a-prayer-before-leaving\/\",\"name\":\"A Prayer before Leaving\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-09-06T09:54:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-09-06T09:54:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/#\/schema\/person\/ddfdcfcb384439499b89f4fc91aa3f21\"},\"description\":\"A prayer for those struggling with Alzheimer's, dementia and other illnesses that rob us of out connection to others: Understand, my love, I found myself\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/2022\/09\/a-prayer-before-leaving\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/2022\/09\/a-prayer-before-leaving\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/2022\/09\/a-prayer-before-leaving\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Prayer before Leaving\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/\",\"name\":\"What God Wants for Your Life\",\"description\":\"Thoughts on the perennial demands and changing shape of Christian spirituality.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/#\/schema\/person\/ddfdcfcb384439499b89f4fc91aa3f21\",\"name\":\"Frederick Schmidt\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/683afd03c0a0abb940f8fe5cb3183269?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/683afd03c0a0abb940f8fe5cb3183269?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Frederick Schmidt\"},\"description\":\"The Reverend Dr. Frederick W. 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{"id":4678,"date":"2022-09-06T03:54:06","date_gmt":"2022-09-06T09:54:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/?p=4678"},"modified":"2022-09-06T03:54:06","modified_gmt":"2022-09-06T09:54:06","slug":"a-prayer-before-leaving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/2022\/09\/a-prayer-before-leaving\/","title":{"rendered":"A Prayer before Leaving"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

A prayer for those struggling with Alzheimer\u2019s, dementia and other illnesses that rob us of out connection to others:<\/p>\n

Understand, my love, I found myself on the tattered edges of memory and expression.\u00a0 They promised our generation endless life, the new forty is fifty, the new fifty is sixty, the future extends endlessly.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t admit that the frontier ahead was frayed and troubled. Bedeviled by the loss of memory and clarity.\u00a0 We will download your memory.\u00a0 Freeze your body and resurrect you in the next century.\u00a0 The tower of Babel, over and over again.\u00a0 A nightmare clothed in the garments of hope.\u00a0 I say this in the presence of the living Lord, the one who makes no shallow promises: remember my love, the moments filled with joy, with passion and care.\u00a0 Remember the days when my memory was clear, my resolve was sure, my love was reliable.\u00a0 These are the gifts that I had to give, and they were yours.\u00a0 My love, my life, my all.\u00a0 The rest is an echo.\u00a0 My last efforts.\u00a0 My failing strength.\u00a0 But they are, like the gifts I first \u00a0offered, an emblem of my love.\u00a0 Before the one who embraces us across that divide which cannot resist the power of the Resurrection, please \u2013 beyond all, above all, in spite of all \u2013 hear my pledge: I love you, with all that I have.\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"