The best perk that goes with being a columnist is hearing from readers. The two kinds of mail – – e and snail – -, along with telephone calls and face-to-face conversations with readers, enrich my life. Hardly anything pleases me so much as getting comments from those who have read my column. Even the occasional negative response makes me feel that my writing has made an impact.
Category Archives: Aging
Why Still?
Faye Dunaway, the celebrated actress, was in town recently. One night, as she went out to dinner with friends, she was hailed by one of her many fans. “Faye, you’re still beautiful,” the woman called out to her.
Discussing the encounter afterwards with her friends, Dunaway probably showed herself appreciative of this tribute to her beauty. But what was the meaning of the word “still.?” There was something faintly troubling about that small worm of a word.
Immortality Now?
“Living to 200 is like trying to fly to Pluto without having landed on the Moon.” That’s what fellow writer, John Lauerman, says of claims for dramatically increased life spans made by the recent public television program “Stealing Time: The New Science of Aging.”
This three-hour special, to my mind, shows science at its dazzling best and also, in its presumption, at its disconcerting worst.
Unsuspected Powers
Religion, it turns out, is good for what ails you. In fact, it may prevent things from ailing you altogether. That, at least, is what Harold Koenig, M.D., has found after much research into the connections between religion and health of mind and body.
Dr. Koenig, director of Duke University’s Center for the Study of Religion/Spirituality and Health, has a far-flung reputation for his findings in this field of study. His latest book, The Healing Power of Faith: Science Explores Medicine’s Last Great Frontier, carries his message beyond fellow scientists to a wide readership.
Saint Enough For Me
It is told that, a few weeks ago, William Alfred received a visit from an old friend who had come from London. The friend approached Bill’s house, rang the doorbell, and waited in vain. Concerned, he peered in the front window and saw Bill struggling to get out of his chair. Another part of his struggle, the friend noticed, was with his pants pocket: Bill evidently was fumbling in the pocket to make sure that he had some dollars to give to the panhandler who, he presumed, was at the door.
MindWalks
Health advisors are unanimous: for the benefit of our physical selves, we elders ought to exercise more than we do. One author, Douglas Powell, is so convinced of its value that he risks telling the younger members of his extended family what to do. “If I could make only one suggestion to my children and grandchildren about optimal aging,” he writes, “it would be this: Get regular exercise.”
From There to Here
Until my college years, I literally did not know anything about homosexuality, even its very existence. It simply did not occur to me that people of the same gender would gravitate toward one another sexually. That’s how sheltered my suburban upbringing was in a family where anything sexual received precious little mention.
After college when I joined the Jesuits, I did become aware of the attraction some men feel for one another. In fact, I felt it myself for at least one fellow novice, a fact that caused me much confusion. But, my spiritual counselors explained, that often happens in living situations restricted to a single gender such as in a military setting (as it was then) or, in this instance, in a spiritual boot camp.