Be mindful: ways to keep an active mind.

Tears came to my eyes as I finished writing from memory a 36-word verse of Scripture, letter perfect, after just one reading. You're not supposed to be able to do that when you're well beyond three score and ten.

Frankly, I was a bit concerned about my memory because I was forgetting where I laid my glasses last and too many other such things. (Of course, I never try to remember these things before I lay them down.)

I had prayed especially that God would help me to learn what He wanted to teach me that morning and to do it quickly. I knew He could.

* Memorize. Memorization of Scripture, poems, profound paragraphs of wisdom, all increase the capacity of the brain and mind to learn.

Practicing memorization will keep your "short-term memory" bundle of brain cells in your hippocampus alive, healthy, and active. This is the first bundle of memory cells to shrivel up and die as people age. But they shrivel and die because they are not used.

It is true that for many, the "spark" that fires off between brain cells grows weaker with age. But a few more rehearsals will bond the connections, and presto! you have it.

Recent studies show that by using these shriveling brain cells vigorously, they will grow a multitude of new fibers to connect with a multitude of other brain cells, forming new associations to assist us in our new memories. We also know that these branches will continue to grow longer and sprout still new branches even as we pass our ninetieth birthday.

Some people lose up to 50,000 brain cells every day because they don't use them! Keep the mind active.

Recently scientists have been finding clues that this new growth and branching are stimulated by brain chemicals known as growth factors. There may be hundreds of these chemicals, and they are exciting researchers around the world.

* A balanced lifestyle. Other studies show that amino acides, calcium, magnesium, vitamin D, a good balance of sodium and potassium, choline, and sunshine all contribute to keeping an active mind. They make their contribution right at the junctions between brain cells and right at the moment brain cells are trying to communicate with each other.

Eat a variety of different foods. Try some that are new to you. You can train taste buds to enjoy the new foods. Connect the flavor to some other you are familiar with, or try to notice something distinctive about the new flavor. You will help keep brain cells active, sprout new connections, and add to the richness of your life. A balanced diet and lifestyle, fresh air, and sunshine are so vital.

* Read. Keep your mind active by reading widely. Read the easy and the difficult. Good books can strengthen your mind. Read in different areas of your Bible--character stories, historical studies, topical studies, and doctrines. There is nothing so calculated to strengthen the intellect as the thoughful, prayerful study of the Scriptures.

* Remain physically active. In a California laboratory a group of aging rats were placed in an environment full of toys, swings, ladders, treadmills, and wheels that kept these rats active and stimulated. It turned out that rats who lived in "Disneyland" had bigger and better functioning brains than their impoverished cousins, right up to the age of 3, or the human equivalent of a ripe 90!

* Be a people person. Social involvement plays a major part in keeping an active mind, according to researcher Warner Schaie of Penn State University. In a 28-year study of 4,000 people on Puget Sound in Washington State, Schaie found that elderly people who live with their families or maintain an active social life outperformed those elderly who lived alone.

Become acquainted with new people. Learn about their interests, their hopes, their joys. This may be more difficult for shy, timid people. But seeking out other shy people, people with similar or related interests, and even those with different interests will offset the tendency of shyness. And at the same time it may improve your overall health. Jerome Kagan of Harvard University showed that very quiet and cautious children had accelerated heart rates, more muscle tension, and higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol in their saliva. My own practice has shown that in adulthood, shyness makes people more prone to panic disorders. Let your mind share with others in a show of caring.

* Break the routine. Drive different roads. Discover new routes. Longer roads are sometimes more interesting, and with less bombarding traffic, more restful.

Take time to smell the roses, to notice new plants, new birds. Find the glory of God in nature.

Use as many different areas of your brain as you can. Simply put, when you listen to music, you are in the right hemisphere of your brain. When you are into spiritual experiences, you are in the right hemisphere. When you memorize Bible verses or sequences of material, you are in the left hemisphere. When you are talking, you are in the left hemisphere. When you follow logical sequences, you are in the left hemisphere. When you're seeing the total picture, you are in the right hemisphere.

It is natural to use that part of your brain that comes easiest for you, but avoid overexercising one area of your brain to the neglect of the many other areas. Activate the whole mind.