Re: Living to 100

[Guest guest]

At 07:52 AM 4/17/2008, you wrote:

The current issue of AARP

Magazine has an interesting story:

http://www.aarpmagazine.org/lifestyle/living_healthy_to_100.html

Tony

Dang.

That pesky God thing again:

“Absolutely,” she said. “When my team was doing our interviews, I noticed

that when you ask the most highly functioning seniors how they are, they

always say, ‘I feel good...thanks to God.’ Yet they may be blind and deaf

and their bones hurt. Psychologists call this an external locus of

control. In other words, they tend to relinquish control of their lives

to God. The fact that God is in control of their lives relieves any

economic, spiritual, or well-being anxiety they might otherwise have.

They go through life with the peaceful certitude that someone is looking

out for them.” I had heard of a study that echoed these findings: the

researchers looked at participants who attended religious services once a

month or more. Over seven and a half years the researchers found they had

up to a 35 percent reduced risk of death.

Later in the afternoon visited Panchita and asked her more

questions. At dinner that night shared a special moment with

me. “I was alone with this lovely, magical person,” she began. “She

doesn’t live in a nice home. She’s so poor yet so satisfied with what she

has. There was a total acceptance. But I wanted to help her anyway. So I

handed her 20 dollars.”

“And...what happened?” I asked.

“She told me, ‘I had no money to buy food. But I knew that God would

provide,’ squeezing my arm. ‘And now He has.’ ”

Maco

[Guest guest]

At 10:57 AM 4/17/2008, jwwright wrote:

>Realistically, I hope people are not depending on God to live to 100 yo.

>I've gone thru life with the idea someone was looking out for me - ME.

--I think the idea is that by observing Jesus's command not to worry

( " who by worrying can add a cubit to his stature? " ), people are freed

from an enormous amount of " normal " stress. Whether there's something

to honoring one's father and mother (that your days may be long), who knows.

>They are talking to people who mostly have no choice but to believe in

>something.

--Rejecting God is as old as humanity; why to you imagine they have

no free will associated with that choice?

>And the subjects can spend long hours believing it, meditating, but it

>doesn't put food on the table.

>We (in general) do that.

--But we try to put less on the table than most people.

;-)

>I check on the old lady left in our community, 87 yo. I don't even like her

>that much but I mow her lawn in spite of the fact I hate nothing worse,

>because what goes around comes around.

--There's also that bit about protecting widows and orphans, so your

obviously biblically observant in spite of yourself.

;-)

>I'm at a loss to learn anything about living to 87 yo from her.

--For what it's worth (probably not that much), to what does she

attribute her own longevity?

Maco

[Guest guest]

Tony

Thanks. I found this comment interesting.

"In about 30 minutes she presented us with lunch—small portions of

beans, corn tortillas, and one egg on a small plate. The serving looked

huge, but it amounted to about half of what you’d get if you ordered

the breakfast special at your local diner."

So true. Americans not only eat the wrong foods, but to much of

everything.

Jeff

citpeks wrote:

The current issue of AARP Magazine has an interesting story:

http://www.aarpmagazine.org/lifestyle/living_healthy_to_100.html

Tony

[Guest guest]

At 10:57 AM 4/17/2008, jwwright wrote:

--I think the idea is that by observing Jesus's command not to worry

("who by worrying can add a cubit to his stature?"), people are freed

from an enormous amount of "normal" stress. Whether there's something

to honoring one's father and mother (that your days may be long), who knows.------------ I've been thinking about the spirtitual dimension lately. The inspiration, funny enough, has been Japanese animation, which is something I enjoy with my five year old son. [Heck, Japanese people have a long life span, and Okinawans the longest, so this might be relevant] Japan has the lowest market penetration of Christianity in any developed nation. Japanese people just don't have the itch that Christianity scratches -- rather than the narratives of dispossession that dominate the Jewish-Christian experiments, Japanese have a deep spirtituality based on place. On some level Japanese are the most secular people on earth, however, they've got the highest fraction of people who've visited a shrine in the last month. Atheism, as we know it, is a denomination of Christianity -- in fact, it's the endpoint of the Christian faith. "Primitive" people worshiped the Sun, the Moon, the Wind, things that you could point to in the environment. People like that can't become "atheists" -- are you going to start saying that there is no Sun? The whole idea of a God that's outside the world is the first step to believing in no God at all. What I find interesting about the Japanese religion, Shinto, is that it has a diffuse character -- so diffuse that you can't even reject it. It throughly infiltrates Japanese culture: if you watch, say, a superhero show aimed at children, you'll find references to Shinto absolutely everywhere... From everyday behaviors, visiting shrines, characters that make cameo appearances, and even the names of the bad guys that they fight. I'm fascinated in because I'm moving towards a place-based spirituality and looking for support -- it's nice to see that a nation of 100 million people can make it work. Take a look at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65RA3468brohttp://gen5.info/q/2008/03/06/the-j-factor/

[Guest guest]

Realistically, I hope people are not depending on God to live to 100 yo.

I've gone thru life with the idea someone was looking out for me - ME.

They are talking to people who mostly have no choice but to believe in

something.

And the subjects can spend long hours believing it, meditating, but it

doesn't put food on the table.

We (in general) do that.

I check on the old lady left in our community, 87 yo. I don't even like her

that much but I mow her lawn in spite of the fact I hate nothing worse,

because what goes around comes around.

I'm at a loss to learn anything about living to 87 yo from her.

Regards.

Re: [ ] Living to 100

At 07:52 AM 4/17/2008, you wrote:

The current issue of AARP Magazine has an interesting story:

http://www.aarpmagazine.org/lifestyle/living_healthy_to_100.html

Tony

Dang.

That pesky God thing again:

" She told me, 'I had no money to buy food. But I knew that God would

provide,' squeezing my arm. 'And now He has.' "

Maco

[Guest guest]

Re: [ ] Living to 100

At 10:57 AM 4/17/2008, jwwright wrote:

--There's also that bit about protecting widows and orphans, so your

obviously biblically observant in spite of yourself.

;-)

>I'm at a loss to learn anything about living to 87 yo from her.

--For what it's worth (probably not that much), to what does she

attribute her own longevity?

Maco

She is not religious, as in, she knows the preachers are after her money.

She is not educated and has no thoughts about longevity, but she is aware

and can remember.

She doesn't drink or smoke but lived with a man who did both.

AFA I can tell she eats anything.

AFA religion goes, I believe there's a lot of useful data in all the bibles

of the world which seem to say much the same thing (including the Egyptian

" Book o fthe Dead " .

In general, I don't have much in common with people who church.

I wasn't raised in church, but I can still remember all the sermons when I

did go. The ones I recall the most were from , which I thought unfair

for a god.

Regards

[Guest guest]

Re: [ ] Living to 100

Tony

Thanks. I found this comment interesting.

" In about 30 minutes she presented us with lunch-small portions of beans,

corn tortillas, and one egg on a small plate. The serving looked huge, but

it amounted to about half of what you'd get if you ordered the breakfast

special at your local diner. "

So true. Americans not only eat the wrong foods, but to much of everything.

Jeff

What's interesting also is that corn tortillas are being replaced by flour

with salt in mexican restaurants.

Beans of course have lotsa sodium. Boiled egg OK.

I am occasionally in places where the choice is a 20 oz coke and wait to

eat at home.

The choices are getting fewer with the frozen food entree's provided to

restaurants, many from other countries.

Regards

[Guest guest]



Very interesting, , but it was Maco wrote that wrote that. I refuse to identify with any religion, including atheism. That would imply identifying with the people who preach/practice it.

I'm a Democritus democrat. "which is the right one?"

As I recall Shinto is the smaller group in Japan? I don't recall Shinto in "The Okinawan Program" - not in index.

I'm fascinated with medical knowledge, of which we have so little, that's amazing enough.

Regards Re: [ ] Living to 100At 10:57 AM 4/17/2008, jwwright wrote: Maco wrote that. --I think the idea is that by observing Jesus's command not to worry ("who by worrying can add a cubit to his stature?"), people are freed from an enormous amount of "normal" stress. Whether there's something to honoring one's father and mother (that your days may be long), who knows.------------ I've been thinking about the spirtitual dimension lately. The inspiration, funny enough, has been Japanese animation, which is something I enjoy with my five year old son. [Heck, Japanese people have a long life span, and Okinawans the longest, so this might be relevant] Japan has the lowest market penetration of Christianity in any developed nation. Japanese people just don't have the itch that Christianity scratches -- rather than the narratives of dispossession that dominate the Jewish-Christian experiments, Japanese have a deep spirtituality based on place. On some level Japanese are the most secular people on earth, however, they've got the highest fraction of people who've visited a shrine in the last month. Atheism, as we know it, is a denomination of Christianity -- in fact, it's the endpoint of the Christian faith. "Primitive" people worshiped the Sun, the Moon, the Wind, things that you could point to in the environment. People like that can't become "atheists" -- are you going to start saying that there is no Sun? The whole idea of a God that's outside the world is the first step to believing in no God at all. What I find interesting about the Japanese religion, Shinto, is that it has a diffuse character -- so diffuse that you can't even reject it. It throughly infiltrates Japanese culture: if you watch, say, a superhero show aimed at children, you'll find references to Shinto absolutely everywhere... From everyday behaviors, visiting shrines, characters that make cameo appearances, and even the names of the bad guys that they fight. I'm fascinated in because I'm moving towards a place-based spirituality and looking for support -- it's nice to see that a nation of 100 million people can make it work.

[Guest guest]

Maco and others: this is getting “off topic” and is starting to make me and probably others uncomfortable. Nevertheless I have to put in my .02.

Being humane or loving does not necessarily go hand-in-hand with being religious or belonging to a house of worship. Many honest, loving, tolerant people are atheists. And some of the nastiest, meanest intolerant people in this world are members of an organized religion. As my husband likes to point out to me, many heinous crimes against humanity have been (and continue to be) carried out in the name of religion. So let’s not sermonize here please!

We have previously mentioned that we don’t know whether it’s an actual belief system or the social aspects of belonging to a group with the support associated with it that is causing the longevity mentioned. My guess is that just belonging to a social network (or having a spouse, friends, relatives etc) is the answer. I would bet that membership in any social group (a woman’s club, a men’s club, a senior citizens group, etc) would yield the same benefits.

From: jwwright <jwwright@...>

Reply-< >

Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2008 10:47:30 -0700

< >

Subject: Re: [ ] Living to 100

Re: [ ] Living to 100

At 10:57 AM 4/17/2008, jwwright wrote:

--There's also that bit about protecting widows and orphans, so your

obviously biblically observant in spite of yourself.

;-)

>I'm at a loss to learn anything about living to 87 yo from her.

--For what it's worth (probably not that much), to what does she

attribute her own longevity?

Maco

She is not religious, as in, she knows the preachers are after her money.

She is not educated and has no thoughts about longevity, but she is aware

and can remember.

She doesn't drink or smoke but lived with a man who did both.

AFA I can tell she eats anything.

AFA religion goes, I believe there's a lot of useful data in all the bibles

of the world which seem to say much the same thing (including the Egyptian

" Book o fthe Dead " .

In general, I don't have much in common with people who church.

I wasn't raised in church, but I can still remember all the sermons when I

did go. The ones I recall the most were from , which I thought unfair

for a god.

Regards