{"id":38793,"date":"2024-10-10T23:58:10","date_gmt":"2024-10-11T06:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=38793"},"modified":"2024-10-11T00:17:15","modified_gmt":"2024-10-11T07:17:15","slug":"do-you-really-want-to-live-forever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/do-you-really-want-to-live-forever\/","title":{"rendered":"Do You Really Want To Live Forever?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the past month, on various social media platforms, Indonesian netizens have been abuzz with posts containing past and present moments in one scene accompanied by Forever Young music. The song’s lyrics read, \u201cForever young I want to be forever young. Do you really want to live forever? Forever, and ever. Forever young, I want to be forever young. Do you really want to live forever? Forever young.\u201d This song has gone so viral that its singer, the music group Alphaville, through its vocalist, made a short video thanking Indonesian netizens for making this song go viral.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

The return of the viral song “Forever Young” in Indonesia, in my opinion, illustrates the hope of many people to live a long life. If a short survey was conducted on all humans today with one question, would long life be our desire? I am sure\u00a0more than 99% of respondents will answer “yes” to this question.<\/p>\n

However, what is worth asking is, what kind of longevity do many people, including us, actually expect? Is it just a high age number? Or a high age number with a\u00a0quality of life? Or, a high age number, high quality of life and at the same time friends, siblings, family, relatives, who are the same age as us also have the same thing. In a conversation in the car with my peer group friends on \u201cI Am Here Day\u201d in DC, I told the Team that if we live long but all those the same age as us have passed away, we will feel lonely and alone in the world. Longevity can be a gift and enjoyable, but if not, it will only bring misery, right?<\/p>\n

Gratton and Scott emphasize in this book that longevity is not a curse but a gift. They write, \u201cYet, as we will show, with foresight and planning, a long life is a gift, not a curse. It is a life full of possibilities, and the gift is the gift of time.\u201d[2]<\/a> However, we must prepare, respond, and deal with this gift wisely. Gratton and Scott then emphasized, \u201cHow you choose to use and structure that time is at the heart of the response to living longer.\u201d[3]<\/a> According to Gratton and Scott, preparing to receive longevity is organizing a quality life. Gratton and Scott further explain, \u201cAs well as expecting a restructuring of time, we expect shifts in how time – and especially leisure – is used. A 100-year life puts enormous emphasis on developing key intangible assets that are built around family and friends, skills and knowledge, health and vitality. This requires investment: time with friends and family, time spent in education and retooling, and time spent exercising. Greater longevity requires greater investment in these assets, especially around education.\u201d[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

In my ministry as a pastor who often makes visits both at home and in hospitals to pray for the congregation, I usually find that those who have entered old age and are sick, especially if it is a terminal illness, actually expect death to come soon rather than a long life. This phenomenon proves that Gratton and Scott are right that we can turn the future and longevity into a gift rather than a curse when we prepare for it wisely, financially, relationally, and healthwise.<\/p>\n

In a book entitled Lifespan: Why We Age-And Why We Don’t Have To<\/span><\/em>, Dr. David Sinclair states that aging is a disease, and humans, with their knowledge, can intervene in this problem. Sinclair asserts,<\/span> \u201cThe belief that aging is a natural process is deep-rooted. So even if I\u2019ve somewhat convinced you that aging should be considered a disease, let\u2019s do another thought experiment. Imagine that everyone on our planet typically lives to 150 years in good health. Together we can build a single dam\u2014at the source. Not just intervene when things go wrong. Not just slow things down. We can eliminate the symptoms of aging altogether. This disease is treatable.\u201d[5]<\/a> That means the hope and effort to realize a long, healthy, happy life is not impossible. It can be attempted and achieved.<\/p>\n

However, longevity is certainly not just a gift but also a responsibility. Therefore, Gratty and Scott assert, \u201cThe gift of a longer life is ultimately the gift of time. In this long sweep of time there is a chance to craft a purposeful and meaningful life. In a long life, you have the potential to build a cathedral rather than a shopping mall.\u201d[6]<\/a><\/p>\n

Regarding quality long life, Glanzer reminds us that life is like a symphony that produces beautiful music when we follow the conductor’s guidance, namely Christ in life. Therefore, longevity is both a gift and a responsibility. If we accept it and experience it, it is a valuable opportunity. As Glanzer insists in his book, \u201cThe mission of God in the world is carried out by individuals who allow the Lord to shape their lives, preparing them for meaningful leadership service. Like the sound of a beautiful symphony, their lives inspire those around them bringing hope, peace, and fulfillment.\u201d[7]<\/a> This aligns with the apostle Paul emphasized in Philippians 1:22: if we are still given the breath of life, it means a life that produces fruit for Christ.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/C_ryKtHOt5l\/?igsh=MnB5eHlteno2aHU3<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott, The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity<\/em> (London: Bloomsbury Information Ltd, 2016), Introduction.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Gratton and Scott, The 100-Year Life<\/em>, Introduction.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Gratton and Scott, The 100-Year Life<\/em>, Chapter 9, \u201cTime: From Recreation to Re-creation.\u201d<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> David A. Sinclair and Matthew D. LaPlante, Lifespan: Why We Age\u2014and Why We Don’t Have To<\/em> (Simon & Schuster, 2019), Part I, “What We Know (The Past).<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Gratton and Scott, The 100-Year Life<\/em>, Chapter 6, \u201cStages: New Building Blocks.\u201d<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Jules Glanzer,\u00a0The Sound of Leadership: Kingdom Notes to Fine Tune Your Life and Influence<\/em>\u00a0(Plano, TX: Invite Press, 2023), 42.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the past month, on various social media platforms, Indonesian netizens have been abuzz with posts containing past and present moments in one scene accompanied by Forever Young music. The song’s lyrics read, \u201cForever young I want to be forever young. Do you really want to live forever? Forever, and ever. Forever young, I want […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":173,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2310],"tags":[3300],"class_list":["post-38793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership-3","tag-gratton-dlgp02","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/173"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38793"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38798,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38793\/revisions\/38798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}