What are your thoughts on the concept of living a very long life?
Once upon a time in the 1940’s a man named Thomas J. Watson said, “I think there is a world market for about five computers.” Watson at the time he made this remarkable statement was the president of IBM.
On my 50th birthday I said to my children, and anyone who asked how I felt about turning 50, “Well, I’ve lived about a third of my life so far.” When I made this bold declaration I was a big proponent of the idea that “things change.” I believed then, and still do now at 70, that new technologies will extend the opportunity for human existence beyond just the current 70 to 100 years marker that is still prevalent today. Oh sure, there is the odd person who lives well into their 100’s, but these are not the rule, but rather the exception.
Why would I believe this? Because one constant in all of human existence over time is, things change. World politics, economic structures, modes of travel, health, education, pick a topic and do a historical search and you will see just how dramatically things have changed over time. And significant changes are even now on the horizon.
Consider the implications of the singularly important research being conducted today in nuclear-fusion (think “free energy”). Researchers at the National Ignition Facility announced in December 2022 they had produced a fusion reaction. Read about it here: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-04045-8 This process has now been replicated at least three times in 2023 according to a December report from the LLNL
Or perhaps the next consideration is equally as important: AI technology. According to snowflake “Generative AI… will reshape how we live, work, and do business.” Isn’t this the very essence of “things change?”
Or what about breakthroughs in science and medicine? Founded in 1907 to help organize chemistry research, CAS became a self-supporting division of American Chemical Society in 1956. Listen to their mission statement, “At CAS, our passion is advancing scientific progress. As a leader in scientific information solutions, we curate, connect, and analyze the world’s published science to accelerate breakthroughs.”
CAS lists the top scientific breakthroughs for 2023: space exploration, AI predictions, synthetic biology, single-cell metabolomics, greener fertilizer production, advancements in RNA medicine, and more… read all about it here: https://www.cas.org/resources/cas-insights/emerging-science/breakthrough22
Obviously, I could go on and on about how our world is changing, and how that has the possibility for prolonging human existence, helping us be more productive, etc. But for a moment at least let’s turn to the spiritual side of this idea of longer life.
Before the Flood which covered the earth in Genesis 6, all of humankind had become corrupted with the exception of one man and his family, Noah. Before the rains ever came, before God revealed His plan to Noah about the Ark, God made a startling change to human’s alive at the time. He said to Noah, “My Spirit will not remain with man forever, because he is also flesh; nevertheless his days shall be 120 years.” (Genesis 6:3)
Now Genesis chapter 5 is a long list of generational history from Adam all the way to Noah. Most of the names listed lived well over 120 years, with Methuselah leading the pack with a whopping 969 years under his belt before giving up the ghost.
We know this phrase was in existence at least by 1611 , when the translators gave this rendition of Mark15:37 “And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.”
But I digress. In many of my previous blogs I’ve spent a good deal of time establishing that I believe the Bible to be 100% accurate and true, without error, making it the sole authority for our lives today.
Therefore my thinking about living out an extended life beyond today is based in the will of God for my life. I like David know that God is in charge of this detail, but I don’t want to know my end as David did in Psalm 39:4. It is enough for me to know that He has numbered my days, and when they are finished I will be with Him.
And that is when the Living out of a very Long life will begin… because things change… and I will be changed too.
As I was saying... 