April 1 2023
DARE TO LIVE.
In Canada, where I live, life expectancy for females is 83.9 years, for males, like me, it is 79.7. In my neighbor to the South, mighty USA, it is 74.5 for the male, supposedly, stronger sex, and 80.2 for females. My wife died in 2020, at the age of 92.7 years, while I, now at 94.4, am still alive, and, according to mortality tables, still have almost 3 years to live.
Senior life comes with surprises: A few years ago, I suddenly peed blood. Fortunately, after a day it stopped. A specimen analysis showed no infection, but since then a urologist checks me every 6 months, finding nothing, fortunately. It did give me a scare. At each visit, seeing my age, and my general good fitness, he always asks me, “what is the secret to your longevity”, and I tell him: “There is not one secret: there are scores of secrets”, without elaborating.
One of the secrets I found in the Scriptures: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 1 Corinthians 6: 19.
Yes, that rattled me: My body is God’s personal gift to me; it is holy. I have to treat is as such, because I am not my own. Just as not being who we are is a sin, so is failing to seek the best for our corporeal condition, is a sin as well. Hmmm.
I take great comfort in John 10: 10: There Jesus tells us that he has come to “To have life and have it to the full”. With these words, He asks us to live life 100%.
I once was asked to say the blessing at a non-church wedding meal, where a ‘justice for the peace’ had performed the ceremony. I had memorized my prayer, and when the time came, the words rolled out of my mouth, totally by themselves, a completely new experience. I prayed: “Lord Jesus: your enemies called you a glutton and a winebibber, indicating to me that you took great delight in enjoying food and wine, so why not follow his example.”
Rule One.
That’s why my rule One is: enjoy life; celebrate it; drink life in; make food and drink a priority, preferably with friends and relatives.
Rule Two.
Eat food, not too much, mostly plants. That’s Michael Pollan’s advice in his book.
Of course, since the body is holy, we have a duty to preserve and enhance it. The old adage, “Mens Sana in Corpore Sano”, a sound mind in a sound body, is today more valid than ever. The corporate food industry is out to beguile us with fancy colors and false claims. Don’t get fooled: avoid food that comes from a factory, which is made to last and look inviting. Instead eat green: literally, and red, and orange: make your menu colorful and fresh.
Rule 3.
One of the best means to keep fit, is walking or running.
For about 15 years – from 1946 to 1960 – I was a heavy smoker, at a time when one of the slogans for manhood was, “You’re not a man, when you don’t smoke” (Je bent geen man als je niet roken kan). When one of my clients died of lung cancer, a horrible death, I quit and started running. Saved my life. Two of my brothers and three of my sisters who smoked died young.
Now the Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate activity, such as vigorous walking. I quit running a few years ago, and now walk every day for 45-50 minutes. When it is too hot or too cold, I exercise on my three mechanical aids: treadmill, stationary bike and rowing machine. Whenever possible, I walk in forested areas as well, having learned that walking in nature really helps with stress and burnout.
Walking is the worst-kept secret I know. Its rewards hide under every step. Hippocrates proclaimed that “walking is man’s best medicine.” The good doctor also knew that walking provided more than mere physical benefits when he suggested: “If you are in a bad mood, go for a walk. If you are still in a bad mood, go for another walk.” He was alluding to what so many who came after, would attest, that walking not only nourishes the body but also soothes the mind while it burns off tension and turn our troubles into elation.
DARE TO LIVE.
Start thinking about life in terms of eternity: ‘we are temples of the Holy Spirit”, that’s why the only solution to today’s environmental endgame, is Jesus’ promise of a new creation. Dare to joyfully live that life now.