In the same way we battle health concerns that matter we can look at our brain heath too.

Dear reader, can you identify whatever health problems you have? 

Let's began with things that matter. Do you have problems with your heart, your arteries? Do you have problems with high blood pressure? Think through if your brain affected by your artery health?

Do you have problems with cancer? Is part of your problems with cancer-related to cancer is you're trying to prevent the disease? If you are battling cancer does that battle interfere with your ability to combat infections and disease?

Do you have problems with blood sugar, diabetes?

These kind of problems are the problems that normally threaten our life. I think we all agree that there big problems. Sometimes the fear of them causes us not to seek out help until they become more problematic and even life-threatening.

Whether or not you made these problems public or not it's totally up to you. I think it's a good idea to tell people who can help you deal with these things, but not everybody indeed needs to know. If you choose to publicly endorse some type of action that may help others, how you do this has many options and it's totally up to you.

Cardiovascular, diabetes and cancer has always been at my focus in walking with the fat-man. As the years of past, I've added dementia to my list.

My first goal was to prevent an early heart attack that many of my family has experienced. One of my favorite uncles passed away in his 50s with an early heart attack. My uncle Bruce was one of my favorite relatives. My brother died in his late 50s. My father was 68 and my mother was 71. I am now 67. On one level I enjoy each day of life, but on another level, I would like to outlive my parents. Years ago I made a magical number of 83. I thought about this back in my 30s when I came up with that formula. I thought that would be a good long life. I still think so. I may not get there but it is a good goal.
In my thirties whatever I thought about being older getting there is a lot different.

As we get older we begin to understand the aging process in personal ways.

There is another area of health that aging brings its problems. Our brain health can be affected by aging. Dementia is something that we should become more informed about. There are things that we can do that may help us for several years. 

What about depression, anxiety? What about the possibility of withdrawing and becoming isolated? Is our world becoming dark? Are we experiencing the"black dog"? 

Do we have negative friends and relatives that we need to set boundaries?

Losing mobility or the ability to be independent changes our relationships as well. Open your intervention to capable doctors and therapists to help you change living with depression. Thankfully most people never experience clinical depression, but at least 255 of us do.

One of the things that we can do when we get older is to understand what is important to us. We often get an ability not to care what other people may think about it. Use that for your favor if you need to reach out to develop your medical team to include the brain. 

There is no need for guilt or shame here the brain is a complicated and wonderful organ. As we get older probably have so many things wrong with it much of which we probably have discovered yet. But there is a great hope for depression and anxiety. We can live on the upbeat in our senior years. Today is a beautiful day, blue skies a nice summer temperature. Good time for a summer drink, an outdoor grill, taking in a deep breath count every good thing we may have going. Thank you, Lord, thank you, friend, that you Rover, etc. Thanks for this day. Keep walking.

As always follow your doctors advise. 

Facing up to the 10th cause of death in aging men

In walking with the fat man, we face probably four major issues as we age. Cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and dementia are the culprits who prevent us from a healthy aging. If we are able to age healthy we face normal aging process where we just wear out, overcome due to pneumonia for example. But there is more…

According to an article that I read from Todays Geriatric Medicine March April 2018, p. 23-27 How Physicians Can Help Prevent Elders Suicide, the 10th cause of death among elderly man is suicide. 

Why as we age is suicide a factor? You may have come across the phrase, “Getting old is not for sissies.” For men loss of spouses, increasingly becoming disabled, chronic pain and illnesses, early onset of dementia, in particular terminal conditions set the stage for depression and suicide. 

Only 5% of people who are depressed will commit suicide in their lifetime. But men who reached the age of 85 are more open to the idea of suicide believing that their situation is hopeless. Finding hope in terminal conditions may be the hardest thing that we have to do. The article shares insights in how the doctor can intervene and I think the ideas are well worth reading.

Depressed thinking with people who reached the age of 85 is I think reasonable to assume that there many reasons to be depressed. Pain and suffering from chronic terminal diseases can take a toll on our mental health. Losses all prepare us for the biggest loss in life, our own. We all have a lot in common with those who are suffering with depression as they age. Eventually in our life there are problems that we cannot solve. There may be strategies to help us cope better, but sometimes we face an outcome that we cannot overcome.

I am not endorsing suicide, but I understand it. One of the things that comes into play as we age we may lose cognitive ability to make good decisions. Becoming disabled is very stressful. In many types of dementia there is actual loss in brain matter relating to decision-making and other cognitive skills. There are many types of medicine that can fog our brain. 

I would like to mention two things to consider:

• Because at 63, 25% of us could be clinically depressed. At the age of 85, 50% of us are suffering from some type of dementia. Dementia directly affects how we think and evaluate things. If we see signs of the negative change and you're more likely to see it in a family setting then in a doctors office, we should be part of the intervention. Does the elderly man have a gun? Is it time to confiscate the gun especially in cases of dementia or in periods of depression? The loss of the gun should be determined by the condition the elderly man faces. Will he recover from depression? Is there in the dementia now going to be part of a permanent condition? Is the treatment for some other disease clouding up his use of the brain? It is reasonable to me that we respond to safety of the elderly man and his family.
• At a time on a person may need mental care the most it is actually harder to get professional help. Medical coverage is not available. There are two sides to the coin in my opinion. One his medical care is too expensive to begin with. I'm sorry but I believe greed enters into the equation. On the other hand, we make it too difficult for people to get mental health care in the first place. The criteria of harm to self or others is to narrow. If we treat the heart because we discover the many things go wrong, why haven't we taken the same approach with our brain? The brain is the most complicated organ in our body. Isn't it strange that we should not assume that things may go wrong as we know with our heart. Our brain only faces greater challenges as we age, and yet we ignore this and don't improve how we treat this stuff. 

Vital connection

We need to stay connected. Many of the elderly are isolated, alone dealing with serious medical problems and loss of loved ones. This problem is only going to get worse. Our children and grandchildren live in a lost world isolated on their devices. They are too preoccupied to play one of the biggest rolls in their lives. They don't have time to learn to love and care for their grandparents or parents. You can't call them because they only respond to a text. Maybe? But they're actually building isolated walls for themselves. This aging stuff will fall harder on them. 

I will follow up this post with ideas that are more positive. I think it's a good idea to read about the issues as we age. I'm one hand we can't dwell on them, but on the other hand we need to be informed with the things that we are facing. Living better with whatever we face is one of our goals. Keep walking

God's love and care even when we can't perceive it.

On the net there is a lot of places where you can be encouraged. Today I am sharing a technique you can use praying to God. It is used to pray back the Scriptures. You take a scripture and personalize it as you pray back to God. Here we see an example of a Ephesians 5:8-10. Note to personal pronouns:

Dr. Ken Boa paraphrases “I was once darkness, but now I am light in the Lord.  May I walk as a child of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), learning what is pleasing to the Lord.”  (Ephesians 5:8-10)

Reading Wayne styles today, he shares truth centered on Romans 8:31-34

It is quite possible in our lifetime to experience people who did not approve of us. There have been those who are not on our side. What ever our experience contrast that with God's unconditional love and acceptance. When we acknowledge our need for a Savior it is always an uplifting experience.

If there is a chance we are living on the blue side, we may be seeing too much negative. It is always a good idea to challenge negative thinking. Theologically we should be able to see from Romans 8:31 to 34 that God is going to see us through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. (Ps. 23) We live in a fallen world and bad things happen even to good people; but God is with us through these experiences. 

(I have thought about in our weakness and frailty. We may not be able to see the truth of God’s care.  People are cruel to each other and we may distort and bend things darkly. Then there are accidents, conditions and diseases that over take us. If we live long enough we are likely to effected by an aging brain. If you see me with a Sox hat or Cardinal hat you will know that dementia has got me. There is nothing wrong with these teams but if I am wearing their hats as my everyday hat, my brain has left the building.) 

There is a certainty that we are in God’s hand through death and heaven. This life is not without its blessings and as such  we challenge negative thinking of depression for it is not always true or absolute.

There may be some people against us; but if we rethink it we will find examples of people who are for us. We have experienced neglect; but if we look again we will notice them many people who took care on our behalf. We may be looking at somebody with the negative expression; but they at that moment may have gas. Our interpretation is always subject to our feelings. To be sure negative responses are real; but they are not always what they seem to be. An angry face my have just bit their tongue.

You can read many stories in the Bible of people who did horrid things. We can learn from them; but it is important not to personalize each and every one of them. Don't own up to every bad thing you read. It Is a good thing that we did not experience every bad thing. Taking our problems day to day is enough. Knowing that God loves us, forgives us, and is working in our life through the good and bad, He won't forsake us. These things are clearly seen in the Bible. 

Challenge negative thinking and remember our thinking may be distorted because of disease or abuse, the truth about God will see us through even that. Keep walking

Expanding a note and looking a depression in Psalms 102:1-11

I have been studying and thinking about Psalm 102. In light of my own experiences with depression and anxiety, as well as dealing with post traumatic stress which all of these conditions really do affect our brains. This isn't just psychosomatic concepts, but we are learning how are brains, chemicals both in structure and function can be altered by real events.

Reeves note - versus 102:2-11 speak to a depressed state. If these fears and anxieties we're from previous stress and abuse (childhood abuse)  they would cause be physical reality of depression and anxiety which has its roots in biological response; some them may be irrational or crazy. Why would I lash out in anger over a very small matter? If the fears and anxieties we're based on real events, the biological response to depression and anxiety would be just as real. 

Since this is a Messianic Psalm, this experience happened to Jesus at the cross. The events were horrific and the physical attack out of his body were devastating. He also was taking on the sin of the world. This experience we cannot duplicate nor can we relate to. His body and mind would have reacted and that reaction would've been real. But he never lost sight of his purpose. 

For the first time from eternity past He was separated from His father. This was because He took

Painful thinking

on the sins of the world. “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?”.  We may feel the same in distressed, vs. 1, 2. For us depression can be very painful. Spiritually grief  and sorrow for sins may motivate us to get right with God. This can be a normal experience. But if we have fallen in a state of depression that has altered our brains and chemicals we may need medical help and support to recover. This is worth going after. Getting medical help can help us recover in weeks or a few months to recover. Progress can be seen in a short period of time.

Jesus forgave those who put him on the cross. He met the spiritual need of a sinner dying next to Him. He looked for the care of his mother. And he put his trust in God. All these things he did despite the horror that he was living through. He experienced every weakness that we do yet He was without sin. (see Hebrews 4:15)

There is recovery

Concerning us remember real stress can cause depression and anxiety. Real abuse and neglect, (betrayal) can cause post-traumatic stress. Our bodies and brains can or can't handle real biological responses. They may be in need of treatments that restore a chemical balance and normal cell response. These are not pretend things. 

It is a good thing to cry out to God even if you can’t figure it out. It takes time and care to recover if your experience bears the reality experienced in Ps. 102.

This is a horrific experience, but it is temporary, verses 12-22 take the longer view that God is in control. Also we may being changes that turn our world topsy-turvy but God himself never changes and his love and care and help us recover. Keep walking

Is it worth the risk? Sharing the "black dog"

I started the blog with my recovery from surgery and my quest to change somethings to have a better shot at health. With walking all of my health numbers improved. The one thing that developed was insomnea that I was not prepared to deal with. In two years the conflicts with sleep put me in a dark hole. 

Getting a grip on a healthy fight against the diseases that kill us is something we all can identify

with. But the black dog sneaks up and bites and holds on.

The cool thing is health can return with a little help. I can share with you how I came to fight back but it is also cool to share with you what it is like to have anxiety and depression in remission. I hope you have read about people who fought cancer and the cancer went into remission. Then there are those who had a heart attack and had there arteries unblocked and got back to their lives. Then there are those who got diabetes and made changes and got their sugar under control.

With these things people have been touched with disease and were shakened. I think there is a sense of what remission means, a second chance, wind, bouncing back. Not cured but able to get back into life, dinged but feeling good. 

What does it feel like to sleep? What does it feel like to not have panic attacks? What does it feel like to understand PTSD and not let irrational feelings to control you? It feels great! 

I opened up about these things in hope it would help me understand myself. I opened up about what happens when the brain has a problem. I knew there was a risk of people withdrawing from me. People have, but not everybody. Some of you may read this post. The marvelous brain, the little gray cells, the place of thought and will, the center that runs our bodies. Everything that I have experienced and learned really fasinates me. I think that fasination has helped me as well. 

Aging can be scary and we only do it once. At my age 25% of us can be battling with depression. Some are already battling dementia. Others are paying the piper with alcohol and drug use that has come to roost. Scary and frustrating, but I know there is hope. With lots of help and support the ole boy recovered. Yep, I feel fine. Keep walking

Lonely or Aloneness? What is the difference?

I was listening to Night Sounds with Bill Pierce a couple of nights ago where he talked about the difference between loneliness and aloneness. Reminded me of the song, Lonely Voices Crying in the City by Billie Banks, 1967

Lonely voices crying in the city,

Lonely voices sounding like a child.

Lonely voices come from busy people,

Too disturbed to stop a little while.

Lonely voices fill my dreams,

Lonely voices haunt my memory…

There are a lot of lonely people. In the last 20 years we have seen a lot of people drawn to the Internet who are lonely. The Internet being the new phenomena introduces us to ways in which lonely people seek connection in cyberspace.

Loneliness affects all age groups, but since now I am older I've been thinking about how loneliness finds its way in the lives of many senior citizens. I have shared with you how 25% of us by the age 63 are clinically depressed. The feeling of loneliness has to factor in. Loneliness has a painful, maybe even bitter feeling.

Aloneness is something quite a bit different. I remember watching a shop owner from Iowa move to Alaska and for 30 years enjoy living in an isolated life on a lake where he made his own log cabin to carve out for himself a way to survive the bitter cold and beautiful summers. Every day gave himself to the task of making his life better as he lived in the wilderness. He gave it up when he was in his 80s because you got tired of the cold weather and move back into a retirement home. (1960's PBS production)

Aloneness doesn't have to be this extreme. In might be sometime in the morning or late night where you have a quiet time or you're reading, listening to music, go for a walk. You may like Leroy Jethro Gibbs go down to the basement to build a boat with your own hands. These examples of aloneness move us away from that hustle and bustle of regular life that can be as enjoyable as drinking your favorite beverage or viewing a work of art or nature caught in the pleasure of your own thoughts. Prayer can be this. I think even writing can be part of this aloneness that can be enjoyable.  For most of us the short periods of aloneness can add tremendously to the quality of our life.

I'll leave you tonight with the thought of the differences between loneliness and aloneness. We want to cut down loneliness and find ways to enjoy our aloneness. Keep walking

Why Exercise Helps with Depression Older People.

Scott Douglas from runners world reports Why Exercise Helps with Depression Older People. He writes, "by some estimates, As many as 20% of older Americans report some level of depression, compared to about 10% for overall population. I have read studies as I have reported of 25% of Americans are clinically depressed at age 63 and often going to living with depression as they age." The study is for Douglas reported on have to do with becoming an aerobic runner after 16 weeks. Does aerobic exercise help us to raise our tryptophan levels which increase our serotonin output which improve our depressions. 

http://www.runnersworld.com/health/why-exercise-helps-with-depression-in-older-people

We know that aerobic exercise can prove mild depression. People can experience a runners high. Since we have known this we have learned things that reproduce dopamine and serotonin in our brains. As we age our ability to make these transmitters decreases. This could be one of the reasons why depression becomes a bigger factor as we are older. By increasing our exercise we can improve our bodies ability to manufacture the transmitters that we need. 

The participants in the study became aerobic and runners who had the ability to run at a pace where they could talk while they ran. In practical terms the Cooper aerobic center has demonstrated that you can do this with aerobic walking. At their website or in my pages there is a walking schedule that you can do it in 12 weeks to get yourself aerobically walking. As always get your doctors input and know your body. 

Several years ago I read the big difference short walks do for people or older. Moving is always good. 

Mr. Douglas report was not clear enough on the one hour workouts in the test, so we'll have to keep in mind this type of study and how it helps us. 

I consistently shared aerobic, strength training, and flexibility are all areas are physical fitness that really improve our health. In older people we can pick up running, walking, biking, swimming all which help us become more aerobic. We can work around the house, yard do strength training at least twice a week and continued to add muscle to our bodies into our 90s. We can do yoga all kinds of exercise programs where body moves, stretching to improve our flexibility. Having a balance ID on these types of physical exercise Will help us to handle our aging a whole lot better. As more and more research comes out I believe these activities will also help for mental health. 

If your depression hangs around for more than two weeks, or you lose hope, or make plans of suicide your body is telling you need to go see a doctor and put a psychiatrist on your medical team and get a mental health check up. Depression is as common as being treated for heart, cancer, and diabetes. You're not alone and it's very common experience awful as it is. Getting treated and working at it is worth the loss of pain of it. Keep walking

Aging does factor into depression

I wrote early on in my blog concerning the death of Robin Williams the possibility that aging was a factor. Initially reports indicated long-term alcohol and drug and depression issues were the cause to his suicide. And then there's the omission by his wife that Robin was struggling with early signs of Parkinson's. I was reading a brochure by the national institute of mental-health about depression and Parkinson's and I heard and read different psychiatrists talking about it and I learned that Parkinson’s disease destroys our brain cells that produce dopamine. And for those people who are fighting depression anyway they are more prone to have Parkinson's contribute to their depression. 

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/depression-and-parkinsons-disease/index.shtml

There are many medications which replenish our dopamine and serotonin which work very well with people who suffer depression because of Parkinson's. Parkinson's is a disorder that generally has an onset with males after the age of 50. Mr. Williams at the age of 63 had early signs of it. So it seems that aging did play a factor in this particular suicide attempt that led to his tragic death. His long-term problems and self-esteem are also part of the equation. But in his mind with this attempt did he lose hope and did he see failure as an aging actor who was soon be showing signs of visible disease. 

Loss of hope and making a plan to commit suicide is always something to take note.

Dr. Thomas Insel in his blog dated August 13, 2014 commenting on Robin Williams mentioned that suicide is in the top 10 of things that kills and we need to pay attention to it like we do cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. 

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/director/2014/robin-williams.shtml

For all of us Robin Williams raises a red flag that we should pay attention to; as we age there are changes that happened that can make is blue. Winston Churchill referred to it as the “black dog”. Keep in mind that Winston Churchill was in the 60s when he was dealing with World War Two and he chose two coping strategies to deal with. For him there was work and alcohol. Churchill didn't lose hope nor make a plan to end his life. The possibility that things happen to us as we get older which could bring on depression points out to our need to identify the symptoms of depression like we would to identify symptoms of heart attack or stroke so that, we get treatment right away. We are less likely to do that with depression because depression distorts our judgment and thinking where we don't see it. 

So many people shared how they are friends with Robin Williams, but if you were they able too really help him see what's going on. The red flag for us is to have people around who can intervene when we need it. There is effective therapy that can help us to change our thinking and combat the lies of depression. We also need a doctor who knows us and if we have a history of depression and show signs of Parkinson's can put two and two together. 

Many of you have read articles about how to identify the signs of a heart attack. Yet when these signs occur how many of those have argued with ourselves about what they mean. Sometimes we just have to trust the instinct to go and have an expert check it out. The same is true with depression, loss of hope, thoughts of failure, helplessness, withdrawal from others,  making a plan to commit suicide. We may not know all the reasons why so we need someone to help us sort it out. Right now there're around 25% of seniors or sitting around depressed and not doing nothing about it. They are living in a dark mood trying to carry on. If that describes you, talk to people you love and see what they say, talk to your General practitioner and see if he has a recommendation of a doctor that you can see. Walking with the fat man means we choose to do something healthy for us so that whatever days we have left to live are the best days that we can do. Keep walking

Robin Williams lost to depression, encourages us to not be blue senior.

Robin Williams 1951-2014

In the world of depression and the many forms it takes at stake is a battle for one life at a time. Just yesterday we learned of the death of Robin Williams, age 63 from a suicide. I hope the police do a thorough investigation to be accurate on the cause of death of this great actor. 

I actually thought this about Robin, I would love to have met him not for an autograph or a picture, but just say thanks to someone who I come to believe is nice guy. But in the world of celebrity I can see how that wish multiplied by millions of has its own problems. I will continue to watch his work for years to come. That's the magic of film.

In a recent blog I wrote of depressions affecting 25% of us at the age of 63. I was initially thinking of depression on setting due to aging. The factors of depression can also be going on for a long time as we see here with Mr. Williams. Isn't it amazing this amazing talent with so many wonderful performances has struggled with his worth. Throwing problems with alcohol and drugs this problem with depression accelerates. The lies of depression become believable. How did aging factor into this attempt that ended his life? 

I hope this story doesn't become another chapter of Hollywood going dark. For me this is a story that's bigger, more human that touches all of us. It is not just actors, but people of any profession or talent who may struggle with self-worth, high expectations and I believe that, “I'm failing and whatever it is it's not good enough”. There is a lie in depression that distorts reality. When I was depressed all I heard was I failed, my career wasn't good enough, I couldn't do enough for my kids, I failed in my ministry, I disappointed my wife, my life wasn't worth living. Now listen very carefully to what I'm saying, everything I thought about at that time was wrong. The truth was I was well-liked at work and just about every kid that I work with benefited by me being there. Both of my kids accepted me and told me how I was always there for them and despite my thinking, I was a good dad. In my ministry there was a long line of kids walking with the Lord today and I was part of that. My wife being straightforward told me, “This isn’t who you are. You are not a failure.” In fact it was my son and my wife who intervene to win the argument that I should go for help. 

In the following weeks I learned how depression works and how to confront the lies of depression. I began getting better weeks before the medicine would kick in by just applying to therapy I was learning. It would take work but at stake was my very life. I was considering suicide which was a very real thought for me back then. 

The lies of depression can interpret what we read, think and feel but, I know that God didn't think this way. I was “accepted in the beloved” Ephesians 1:6. My devotions in the hospital were simple and clear. There was no need to pray over and over, I would pray once and then leave it in the hands of the one who loves me. At the time I would perseverate experiencing anxiety attacks. In the next five years I participated in treatment and therapy in which I made a recovery from depression and I am able to control my anxiety. In fact right now my anxiety rarely occurs. 

I am sure that they'll be a lot of sensational stories come out about Robin Williams. I think he was a good guy, always made me laugh or think. I am sorry that depression won in his life. It is part of a big issue where 25% of us at age 63 and over battle with depression. Don't believe the lie of it, you can fight it. You don't need drugs or booze to deal with it, it can be treated and we are a long way from “one flew over the cuckoo nest”. Don't be a blue senior, look into the best treatment options that can help you. Keep walking

God is there in the dark moments

Sea crash where Spaffords lose their children

When you read Job 1 you will see Job lost everything dear to him. The result of the loss sent Job into a depression, chapter 2. To make matters worse Job's counsel is weeks of listening to negative voices. This is easy to do when you are depressed. Depression has its own outlook that is very dangerous. The circumstances of depression have to be considered and healing has to take place as we cope the realities of loss. We shouldn’t under play these circumstances, they are real and horrible. Each one of us would be deeply affected. 
You may be aware of the hymn "It is well with my Soul," written by Horatio Spafford (1828-1888) After losing home and investment to the Chicago fire in 1871, he sought recover for him and his family by taking a mission trip to England with D. L. Moody. He sent his family ahead as he cared for unfinished business and received a telegram from his wife "Saved alone". His four daughters drowned at sea.  Sailing to reunite with his wife he penned the hymn, "It is Well with My Soul."

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain It is well, with my soul, It is well, with my soul, It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, Let this blest assurance control, That

Spafford's life in Chicago 1870, before the trials

Christ has regarded my helpless estate, And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought! My sin, not in part but the whole, Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live: If Jordan above me shall roll, No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

But, Lord, ‘tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait, The sky, not the grave, is our goal; Oh trump of the angel! Oh voice of the Lord! Blessèd hope, blessèd rest of my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight, The clouds be rolled back as a scroll; The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend, Even so, it is well with my soul.

One might think that as the story goes I know everything works out. But sometimes the pain continues and the problems present themselves.

Words put together and published by 1873. P. P. Bliss wrote the music in 1876.  Spafford's life continues. He and his wife would have three more children. One more child would die in childhood. He did move to Jerusalem to set up a children’s home with the hope to become a overcomer. He dies of malaria which leaves his mind in a delusional state. His hymn has been a great encouragement to many. He struggled later with faith yet moved forward with the Lord. His work in Jerusalem, The American Colony is well known for their care of those in need. This work is still going on today. His wife and daughter worked in to the Old city until 1968. Horatio taught Jewish boys from 1882 to 1888.

Acknowledge the loss, and give time to heal
by faith trust as you move forward

It seems obvious that we can underplay circumstances that are significant. We do have losses and sorrows. They can add up to really affect how we live and behave. But the real the real story behind "It is Well with My Soul" Horatio Spafford wrote was that despite his struggles he did move forward. He found hope in the Lord. He did in the last years of his life seek to help others. He used his talents, directed the business he was in.  He went from a lawyer to an educator and an administrator that cared for children. His struggle along with his wife's was significant. The stresses add up and add malaria, and possible brain illness as he aged and he experiences mental confusion and early death at 60. Healing and wholeness happens in glory. The truth of the song he wrote is not just when things go right but God is there when things go horribly wrong. Keep walking