This last Sunday was the first Sunday of Lent. The gospel reading was, as usual, the account of Jesus being driven into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to face the temptations from the devil. I decided, though, rather than preach on the gospel to address Lent generally and give the congregation a challenge. Here’s what I said.

There are three signs that you are getting old. One is memory loss. I can’t remember the other four.

What’s your memory like? A few years ago scientists undertook some research done into memory and age. In particular, they wanted to find out at what age your brain starts to malfunction. And it’s younger than you think. They discovered that your brain starts to malfunction, mainly because your brain cells start dying, once you reach the age of 40. At that age you can expect to start getting that experience of walking into a room and forgetting why you did, or of going to the fridge and opening the door and then standing there like a lemon thinking “why on earth have I opened the fridge door?” The only comfort you can take from knowing that your memory is fast disappearing is that everyone else over the age of 40 is just as bad and is in the same boat. Continue reading →