Being of a certain age, I receive and read the AARP monthly bulletin. This month the cover article was 50 Great Ways to Live Longer. Some suggestions were easy, like take vitamin D, take a vacation and drink water. Some were harder, like eat less or live like the Amish.
And then there was #27 - Embrace Your Faith. Attending religious services once a week has been shown to add between four and 14 years to life expectancy. Now how easy is that? The next time you think you are too busy to attend church services think about those extra years. I’ve also read that group singing reduces stress.
So, I then started paying closer attention to the list. #26 was Find Your Purpose. Doing something that matters—whether it’s helping your children or interacting in a community of like-minded folks—is correlated with seven extra years of life. Well, Zion offers so many ways to give you purpose. We just finished hosting two weeks of Family Promise. We are about to spend two full days hosting Feed My Starving Children and soon after we will start preparing for the Oldwick Town Wide Tag Sale. Zion’s Spring Cleanup Day is Saturday, April 8th. I’m sure every committee would be happy to welcome a new member. Go out and get your purpose. Zion is here for you.
#32 was Get Social. Loneliness increases the risk of death by 45%. Our Shepherding Committee is reaching out to members. Restaurant Rovers and Lunch Bunch are both fun ways to get together with friends. And don’t forget to sign up for Parish Life activities.
#42 was Take the Stairs—Every Day. The next time you are at the CEB and need to go to the top floor, skip the elevator and take months off of your brain age. If you live in a ranch and need stairs to climb, feel free to drop by the CEB every day. And #46 was Walk. We should embrace the fact that we need to walk one block from the church to the CEB.
It’s clear to me that being an active member of Zion has the potential to add years to your life. Let’s get old together.
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