Opus 2026-024: Stay One Step Ahead

Somewhere I remember a great sage making the comment that we started dying the day we were born.  At the time it seemed to make some sense but I’m here to question that today.

Death can be many things.  If you go back to the garden of Eden, death means separation from God and His plan, an eventual decay and end to the physical body.  It did not mean “die right now”.  If they had been more obedienct we might have no nursing homes today.

But how did someone say that we start dying when we’re born?  I think his intent was spot on, but he missed his starting date.  I would suggest that the human body starts dying when it reaches the point of being developed.  It’s possible that different parts of the body might start decaying quicker than other parts.  What is the last system in your body to reach maturity?  I have no idea.  Perhaps some doctor could tell you.  But let’s just say that your sense of coordination develops much later than your taste buds.  I am still waiting.  That would mean that your taste buds, once fully developed, would start dying off while you might get more and more coordinated every day.  We know the taste buds start dying.  It’s just one indication that there is a limit to how long things will last.

I would suggest that the time we start dying is going to vary with each individual.  It could be as early as your teens and it could be as late as your mid 20s, but the day does come when the tide turns.  Being old and being well passed that turning point, I can almost feel things shutting down.

How do we respond to that?  On one point you just accept what is reality.  If my heart wears out, it wears out.  A lot of people think that drugs or exercise or a positive attitude can make it last longer.  Maybe so.  Probably not.  But at another point there are things that we can do.  We can work on exercising and stretching.  We can do things to keep as fit as possible.  We can put off the day where everything comes to a close.

The same with our minds.  I don’t know how predestined such things as dementia or Alzheimer’s are, but my guess is that if we are keeping our minds active and constantly challenged the onset of those problems will be held at arms length.  I may be totally wrong, but I’m going to go forward with that hypothesis.

What strengthens our muscles?  Movement and resistance.  I’m sure diet might have something to do with it but if you sit in a chair all day it probably doesn’t matter what you eat or how good an attitude you have.  My suggestion is that we each need to find a challenge in life and work over overcome it.  For those of you who are believers, that might mean a more intensive study of the word and getting involved in some serious conversations about what things mean.  For those who are not believers, it might mean studying the Constitution or taking a class in law.  It might mean becoming a philosopher and sitting around the coffee shop and expounding your ideas, of course, with the understanding that this will generate argument and conversation.  All of this will stimulate what we call our mind.

Sitting in the dark on my porch, I am enthused about the future.  I’m getting old.  If I’m too feeble to get to the mirror for evidence, then all I have to do is hold out my arm and look at the wrinkles.  I can still be enthused about the future.  Somebody once said they would rather wear out than rust out.  Plug your brain in.  Get it active.  Get out of your chair and walk somewhere besides the refrigerator.

homo unius libri