PROLONGING LIFE, NOT DEATH

The 3.8 million United States seniors who celebrated their 85^th birthday before the year 2000 constituted the fastest growing segment of the population. By 2030, this group will number 9 million, and will swell to 19 million by 2050. The new focus on aging must go beyond extending the life span. Rather than delaying death, medical science must work toward prolonging a fully lived life.

Knowledge, knowing what to do in a certain situation, is the wisdom of God put into action.

v    Two types of knowledge

o      The physical, the intellectual, the worldly, the material, the temporal

o      The spiritual, the Godly, the eternal

§       For we fix our eyes not on what is seen but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

                                                                                       II Corinthians 4:18

v    Modern medicine—and in particular psychiatric medicine—has the opportunity to bridge the gap between intellectual knowledge and spiritual understanding--and in doing so encourage a dialogue between life and death decisions.