I have often stated, humorously, that at 53, I\u2019m old enough to feel pain in my body every day, and still too young to shut up about it. There is goodness in getting the most out of life, and wisdom in knowing what matters most for eternity. But the thought of living to 100, if I\u2019m honest, is not on my life goals list.<\/p>\n
Psalm 90 is where Moses records thoughts about his life, in contrast to the God of eternity. Thinking about life\u2019s brevity, he asks, \u201cTeach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom\u201d (\u202d\u202dPsalms\u202c \u202d90:12\u202c). About legacy, he yearns, <\/span>\u201cMay the favour of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us \u2013 yes, establish the work of our hands\u201d \u202d\u202d(Psalms\u202c \u202d90:17\u202c).<\/span><\/p>\n All this has served as a backdrop for me while reading Lynda Gratton and Andrew J. Scott\u2019s book, The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity<\/em>. I see this work as able to assist in a more positive dialogue about aging, incorporating their expertise from economics and psychology. Gratton and Scott present the idea that longevity can be \u201ca gift and not a curse\u201d [1] by making a necessary move away from the three-stage model of education, work, and retirement designed for a shorter life-span and tethered to whatever capacity one has to fund life after work. They make the case for a fundamental redesign of life [2], by accounting for a balance of both tangible and intangible assets grouped as productive, vitality, and transformational.<\/p>\n One of the keys to this is the concept of juvenescence [3]. Long life is not about being older longer, but being younger longer [4]. Our Doctoral cohort recently heard Thomas F. \u201cMack\u201d McLarty advocate for his own sense of entrepreneurial vigour in his 70s when asked, \u2018Why are you not retired?\u2019 He said it is because \u201cwork orders life\u201d [5]. Work is good, but may require re-skilling to choose re-creation over recreation. In order to find fulfilment in a longer life, the authors share, we must focus on intangible productive assets like knowledge, peers, and reputation, vitality assets such as health, balanced living and regenerative friendships, and transformational assets such as self-knowledge and diverse networks [6].<\/p>\n While I agree that this holistic view of a fulfilled life is great, and affirm the role of relationships, especially intergenerational family and long lasting friendships, I would argue that there is something else I have discovered to be valuable for longer life on earth, that I did not feel the book addressed. Vocation.<\/p>\n From my own faith tradition as a follower of Jesus, it is vocational purpose that increases the possibility of sustainable flourishing in the face of an elongated timeline. In their work Calling All Years Good: Christian Vocation throughout Life\u2019s Seasons<\/em>, Kathleen Cahalan and Bonnie Miller-McLemore pursuasively lay out the four vocational experiences in late adulthood. They are <\/span>meaningful work; making a difference; facing loss; and the spiritual journey of reconciling with self, God, others, and death [7]. By coupling some of the themes covered by Gratton and Scott with embracing the sanctity of life in late adulthood, there is less room to potentially avoid the meaning and purpose one only discovers by accepting their own aging process. Cahalan presents the connection of late adulthood with \u201c<\/span>the central themes of calling: discerning one\u2019s gifts, finding purpose, responding in a place not of one\u2019s choosing, and living with authenticity\u201d [8]. Joyce Ann Mercer, in her chapter on Late Adulthood, gives us this insight from Spiritual Director Kathleen Fischer.<\/span><\/p>\n From the perspective of faith, the later years provide the most intense and vivid revelation of the paradox at the heart of the Christian Gospel: that in losing our lives we somehow find them; that loss can be gain, and weakness, strength; that death is the path to life. [9]<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n I want longevity to be a blessing, not a curse. I want to continue to affirm Gratton and Scott\u2019s mantra that \u201cthe gift of a longer life is ultimately the gift of time\u201d [10]. And whatever time I am offered, I long to live it paying attention to tangible and intangible assets, but also a vocational purpose that stands, even when the body ages, the mind erodes, and death draws near. With my whole being, I long to state with thankfulness, \u201cLord, you have been our dwelling-place throughout all generations\u201d (\u202d\u202dPsalms\u202c \u202d90\u202c:\u202d1\u202c).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n _____<\/p>\n [1] Gratton, Lynda, and Andrew J. Scott, The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity,<\/em> London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020, 281.<\/p>\n [2]\u00a0The 100-Year Life<\/em>, 281.<\/p>\n [3] The 100-Year Life<\/em>, 171. The authors build on Robert Pogue Harrison\u2019s definition of juvenescence as \u201cthe state of being useful or growing young.\u201d<\/p>\n [4] \u201cThe 100 Year Life | London Business School\u201d, April 5, 2017, <\/span>YouTube, 2:47.<\/p>\n [5] Thomas F \u201cMack\u201d McLarty interview at Portland Seminary Doctoral Advance, Sept 28, 2024.<\/p>\n [6] 100yearlife.com assessment feedback categories.<\/p>\n [7]\u00a0Cahalan, Kathleen A., and Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore, <\/span>2017, Calling All Years Good : Christian Vocation throughout Life’s Seasons,<\/em> Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 123.<\/span><\/p>\n [8]\u00a0Calling All Years Good<\/em>, 124.<\/p>\n [9] Calling All Years Good, <\/em>144.<\/p>\n [10]\u00a0The 100-Year Life<\/em>, 167.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I have often stated, humorously, that at 53, I\u2019m old enough to feel pain in my body every day, and still too young to shut up about it. There is goodness in getting the most out of life, and wisdom in knowing what matters most for eternity. 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