OLD PEOPLE EXIST TO SAVE THE WORLD
IF EVOLUTION WERE ALL ABOUT PROCREATION, men would die at 30 and women would die around 45. We would mature, have sex, raise children, and die. So, why do we live so long? Because old people are needed to contribute as community members, wisdom keepers, storytellers, and backup parents. We do not stick around to retire. Our evolutionary mandate is not to grow into a life of leisure or a second adolescence. The world did not—and does not— need that, and that simple fact was once obvious to everyone. We old folks are here to be busy spiritual action heroes for our communities, families, children, and society—proudly working more than we did when we had our careers. Our job is to save the world.
Of course, communities and tribes were once much smaller. Tribal members were connected through lifetimes and members could see each person as an essential part of the tribal family. People who didn’t contribute didn’t last. On the other hand, it is estimated that hunter-gatherers typically met their daily caloric needs in only three to six hours. So we once had plenty of time to create gifts, tinker with tools, tell stories, love, play, and care for one another. We had plenty of time to establish our value to our community.
The value of the elder was established primarily in two ways:
1. Modeling healthy behaviors: A lifetime of avoiding saber-toothed tigers and poisonous plants was an obvious sign of useful knowledge. So was being kind and helpful and brave when necessary so that the community both welcomed you and protected you when you needed help.
2. Holding myths, parables, and stories:
Stories passed through generations are stories that have real survival value, but it is the gift of individual time and age that gives power and nuance to each telling. A lifetime of hearing and sharing stories in the context of life events was key to knowing how and when to share them. That’s called wisdom, and it should grow with age.
Through examples and stories from a long life, wise elders connect their people to one another, to animals and plants, to the earth, to the sky, and to the spirits. When we contemplate the great spiritual and religious stories that have lasted through time, we quickly conclude that they are built on a moral, virtuous overlay that emphasizes our interconnectedness. These stories all point out why stealing, injustice, indifference, angry actions, envy, jealousy, hate, killing, and taking more than you need are evil. The Golden Rule is foundational to all major religions, and it should not take becoming an elder to understand why a life guided by the Golden Rule is foundational to elderhood. Respect and care for your elders as you want to be respected and cared for as an elder. Built into the Golden Rule is an overarching goal: to become an elder who is worthy of respect and care.
“Through examples and stories, wise elders connect their people to one another, to animals and plants, to the earth, to the sky, and to the spirits.”
When I look at the mess of the world right now, it seems that today’s old people have forgotten our evolutionary calling. I see elders—many calling themselves deeply religious or spiritual—dropping out, building walls around their spirituality and beliefs, and breeding indifference. Right now you might be thinking, “Paul, religion is not doing much to promote happiness, love, or anything that resembles peace. Look at Palestine, Ukraine, “Christian” white supremacists, and the 1 percent owning $54 trillion while people starve. The problems are too big to be my problem. I just want to enjoy whatever time I have left. I’m glad you brought that up.
We old people exist to save the world! That is why you have time left. It is not to buy an organic, locally sourced, free-trade latte from the co-op or donate old yoga books to your local library and call it good. At least call it what it is: indifference.
Here in South Africa people ask, “Where do you stay?” They do not ask, “Where is your home?” because so many have no home. One of our team members was recently in a refugee camp up in northern Uganda. She said the United Nations categorizes people there into three groups. One group gets food, the second two do not. “Sadly, especially for the kids, they must fend for themselves,” she told us. Hopefully you had an emotional response to the injustice of that. But are you writing a check to help those who lost out in the birth lottery? Are you volunteering to help make the soup, watch the babies, take care of the orphans, read books to the children, teach them skills, and give them seeds, education, and a fishing pole so they can become self-sufficient and employable? The opposite of love is not hate. It is indifference, and the Devil knows this.
178 Sisters of Notre Dame journaled about their lives as they served God and humanity simply and with love, example, and effort. Their journals were then reviewed for words like love, faith, joy, happiness, and eager. The researchers found that the sisters who used the most positive, hopeful, and mission-oriented words lived longer: Of the top 25 percent—the most “positive” sisters—90 percent were still alive at age 85 compared to only 34 percent of those who ranked in the bottom quarter for positive words.
Purpose is directly correlated with longevity. Purpose drives us to take care of ourselves and to push on even when we think we can’t. The higher the purpose, the better it works. We are given two resources to fulfill our purpose: time and money. If we have more time, we can volunteer, protest, boycott, and teach. If we have money, we can live modestly and use our treasure and talent to support the end of suffering and the promotion of happiness through donations, ethical behavior, and setting an example of right conduct. We are mostly called not to be indifferent. Not to be agnostic toward the evils we see. Your new elder career should be the oldest: saving the world.
Paul Sutherland is at that ageless age between 60 and 100. He would like to hear from other ageless-age people on how this column speaks to them at paul@paulhsutherland.com.