People age differently. Sometimes we see friends whom we have not seen in many years and if that person is the same age as us, we may be surprised to see that they look young and spry or perhaps old and haggled. Each of us age differently. Yes, it can be for different and various reasons. “The Guardian”, an online news organization for a global audience, provided information about researchers who used “18 physiological markers, including blood pressure, organ function, metabolism, and other items to assess the biological age” of their participants. In some cases, participants had hardly aged while in “extreme” cases some were almost twice their age physiologically. When we think about the aging process, some people age better than others. Some age better because they are thin while those with heavier builds don’t fare as well. From eating and drinking habits to exercise and things put in the body, aging is affected by each person individually but it is God who gives life and sustains a person until death.
Barbara Brotman, a Chicago Tribune reporter wrote about Maggie Callanan and the over 2,000 deaths she had witnessed over her years as a Massachusetts hospice nurse. According to Callanan, patients do similar things such as indicate near death that they “have a home to go to”, “know their family members are waiting for them to come”, have to get their bags “together for the trip”. Many who work with those dying tell similar stories of those on the brink of death.
Each of us age differently based on varied reasons including our DNA, heritage, environment, habits, behaviors and more. While each of us can live healthier which could lead to a longer life, it is ultimately in the hands of the creator as to our aging and the time of our death.
My Mother was 49 years of age when she died from a brain aneurism. I came home to visit from college on a Friday to find my mother with a headache and not feeling well. By the following Wednesday she had passed from this life to the next. It was all so fast and there was no warning for our family. Our loved one was here on a Friday and gone before the next Friday. My Father lived to be 93 and healthy up until the last months of his life. One never knows the aging process and the age at which one will die. God, our Creator gives life on this earth and eternally. He is the hope of glory.
It is ultimately God who causes man to breath and bring depth to his or her life.
