Impermanence

ONCE in Persia ruled a king
Who upon his signet ring
‘Graved a motto true and wise,
Which, when held before his eyes,
Gave him counsel at a glance
Fit for any change or chance.
Solemn words, and these were they:
“Even this shall pass away.”

Trains of camel through the sand
Brought him gems from Samarkand;
Fleets of galleys through the seas
Brought him pearls to rival these.
Yet he counted little gain
Treasures of the mine or main.
“Wealth may come, but not to stay;
Even this shall pass away.”

‘Mid the revels of his court,
In the zenith of his sport,
When the palms of all his guests,
Burned with clapping at his jests,
He, amid his figs and wine,
Cried: “Oh, precious friends of mine,
Pleasure comes, but not to stay —
Even this shall pass away.”

Lady, fairest ever seen,
Was the bride he crowned his queen.
Pillowed on his marriage bed
Softly to his soul he said:
“Though no bridegroom ever pressed
Fairer bosom to his breast,
Mortal flesh must come to clay —
Even this shall pass away.”

Fighting in a furious field,
Once a javelin pierced his shield,
Soldiers with a loud lament
Bore him bleeding to his tent.
Groaning, from his wounded side,
“Pain is hard to bear,” he cried.
“But, with patience, day by day,
Even this shall pass away.”

Towering in the public square,
Twenty cubits in the air,
Rose his status grand in stone;
And the king, disguised, unknown,
Gazing on his sculptured name,
Asked himself: “And what is fame?
Fame is but a slow decay —
Even this shall pass away.”

Struck with palsy, sere and old,
Standing at the gates of gold,
Spake him this, in dying breath:
“Life is done, and what is death?”
Then, in answer to the king,
Fell a sunbeam on the ring,
Answering, with its heavenly ray:
“Even death shall pass away.”

HT: Punna

Tan Soo Inn on Counting the Years

Those who passed the the 50 years mark will begin to be aware that their bodies are not so strong and agile as they once was, their memories so sharp and there will be a general deterioration of health. When he reaches 55 my friend Soo Inn reflects on the counting of the years. Heel the wisdom of a wise man.


Commentary: Counting the Years

"It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple." (Isaiah 6:1 NLT)
By Soo-Inn Tan
February 26, 2010 Edition.
(Grace@Work Mail is a ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg). Reposted with permission.

On the first Sunday of the year, my friend Mark preached on Psalm 90. When he reached verse 10, he asked us to do a little arithmetic. If the verse were to be taken literally, how many years do we have left? I will be 55 this year, so 80 - 55 = 25. Still some time left, but not all the time in the world. The exercise was a good reminder of our mortality. Maybe there is something to be said for how Isaiah marks the years, by identifying a year with the death of a prominent person.

1963, the year that John F Kennedy died. 1997, the year that Mother Theresa died. 2009 was a difficult year for many of us. For many it was the year that Michael Jackson died. But for many of my friends, it was the year that Yasmin Ahmad died, the year that Anthony Yeo died. Some of us are still recovering from the many friends that we lost last year. When will it be our year? How do we confront the fact of our mortality? Isaiah gives us two suggestions.

First, root your life in God. Isaiah 6 finds Isaiah in the temple, worshipping the Lord. We are mortal. God is immortal. And God has made us this offer:

[Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this . . .?" (John 11:25-26 NLT)]

I believe. I have believed for some time now. The passing of the years reminds me that the central reality of my life is my relationship with the Almighty, "Immortal, Invisible, God only wise. (Walter C. Smith)" Indeed I know this God as Abba. My life is in His safe hands. I need not fret about my departure from this life. Dad knows best. And nothing in this life or the life to come can separate me from His love (Romans 8: 35-39). In the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah is in the temple. May 2010 find us similarly rooted in our Lord.

To be rooted in the Lord brings us to the other thing that Isaiah teaches us about how we can face the passing of the years --- be faithful to your vocation. Isaiah 6: 1-8 is the record of Isaiah's call to his prophetic ministry. It reminds us of the vocational nature of life. If my time on earth is limited, I do not want to waste my days. I want to invest my life in what God has called me to do. Frederick Buechner puts it nicely:

[ . . in the year that King Uzziah died, or in the year that John F. Kennedy died, or in the year that somebody you loved died, you go into the temple if that is your taste, or you hide your face in the little padded temple of your hands, and a voice says, "Whom shall I send into the pain of a world where people die?" and if you are not careful, you may find yourself answering, "Send me."

. . . a man's vocation is a man's calling. It is the work that he is called to in this world, the thing that he is summoned to spend his life doing. (The Hungering Dark, San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco, 1969, 27.)]

What is my vocation? For some time now I have believed that my calling is to teach God's Word with "relevance, accuracy, and passion" so that lives are transformed for Christ. In more recent times, there has been a further fine-tuning of that mission. I seem to be tasked to teach about the importance of relational transformation, how God's primary way of changing lives is through relationships. This year, I will be teaching on Spiritual Mentoring in two seminaries in Singapore, and leading workshops on the same subject in Malaysia and Canada. And we are receiving many invitations to teach on the subject from churches and Christian organizations. My 2010 planner is filling up fast.

There are many things I can do and many things I would like to do, but with the passing of the years, I must be focused on what I must do --- what God has called me to do. What has God called you to do?

Will I have 25 more years to live? More? Less? God knows. But in the year that _____ died, may I be found rooted in the Lord, faithful to my vocation.

How Heavy is a Glass of Water?

This is from a good friend of mine who has given me permission to post this:

"How heavy is a glass of water?"

Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.

"The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm.

If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

"And that's the way it is with stress. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on."

"As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden."

"Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can."

Don't pick it up again until after you've rested a while.

• Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.
• Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
• Always read/see/surf stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
• Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled.
• If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
• It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply be kind to others.
• Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
• You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
• We could learn a lot from crayons... some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.

picture source

How Heavy is a Glass of Water?

This is from a good friend of mine who has given me permission to post this:

"How heavy is a glass of water?"

Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.

"The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm.

If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

"And that's the way it is with stress. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on."

"As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden."

"Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can."

Don't pick it up again until after you've rested a while.

• Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.
• Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
• Always read/see/surf stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
• Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled.
• If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
• It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply be kind to others.
• Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
• You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
• We could learn a lot from crayons... some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.

picture source

Illness and the Human Psyche

my article on Illness and the Human Psyche

Yet deep in our psyche (soul, mind, spirit), we know the truth. We live in a fallen world where death and decay reign supreme. In spite of all our medical and technological advances, we barely extend our death rate over the biblical three score and ten. Those who do so often live with severe limitations and poor quality of life. Dylan Thomas underscores our fight against our mortality by writing:

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

read more

.

Illness and the Human Psyche

my article on Illness and the Human Psyche

Yet deep in our psyche (soul, mind, spirit), we know the truth. We live in a fallen world where death and decay reign supreme. In spite of all our medical and technological advances, we barely extend our death rate over the biblical three score and ten. Those who do so often live with severe limitations and poor quality of life. Dylan Thomas underscores our fight against our mortality by writing:

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

read more

.

How To Look Death in the Face

Dr Raudy Pausch a Computer Science Professor at Carnegie Mellon University has incurable pancreatic cancer. This is his 'farewell lecture' to 400 of his students at Mc Conomy Auditorium.

What do you say when you know that you are dying? What you say when you are dying reflects on what you believe and act upon when you are living.


.

How To Look Death in the Face

Dr Raudy Pausch a Computer Science Professor at Carnegie Mellon University has incurable pancreatic cancer. This is his 'farewell lecture' to 400 of his students at Mc Conomy Auditorium.

What do you say when you know that you are dying? What you say when you are dying reflects on what you believe and act upon when you are living.


.

The Ultimate Question for Assessment

We like to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of our ministry or work. How do we usually do that? We do surveys and ask questions. I believe the ultimate question we can ask someone about our ministry or work is

Will you recommend this service (ministry or work) to a friend or a colleague?

The answer will reveal how effective or fruitful we have been.


.

The Ultimate Question for Assessment

We like to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of our ministry or work. How do we usually do that? We do surveys and ask questions. I believe the ultimate question we can ask someone about our ministry or work is

Will you recommend this service (ministry or work) to a friend or a colleague?

The answer will reveal how effective or fruitful we have been.


.

A Need for Personal Integrity

Recently I have been very bothered by the loss of personal integrity of people in power as the newspaper and online aggregators daily bring news of corruption and bribery in high places. Personal integrity is character. What we do flow out of who we are.

Fred Smith was a well respected Christian leader, businessman, mentor and writer. He died in August this year. This article which he wrote for the Leadership Journal tells us about what he had learnt about character building from another great Christian, Francois Fenelon who lived more than three hundred years before.

He wrote:

(1) Self love is subtle
(2) Suffering is useful
(3) One test of relationship with God is peace.
(4) Growth and changes are the work of the cross
(5) Give grace to yourself and others.

read complete article here






Os Guinness from Trinity Forum (a Christian think tank) edited a book (1999), Character Counts, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books in which scholars examined the character and leadership qualities of Washington, Wilberforce, Lincoln and Solzhenitsyn.

Each of these persons were examined from their biography to determine what molded their character and made them who they are.


...that adversity, apart from its power to overwhelm, has the potential to reveal the moral character and create life-changing leaders.

A Need for Personal Integrity

Recently I have been very bothered by the loss of personal integrity of people in power as the newspaper and online aggregators daily bring news of corruption and bribery in high places. Personal integrity is character. What we do flow out of who we are.

Fred Smith was a well respected Christian leader, businessman, mentor and writer. He died in August this year. This article which he wrote for the Leadership Journal tells us about what he had learnt about character building from another great Christian, Francois Fenelon who lived more than three hundred years before.

He wrote:

(1) Self love is subtle
(2) Suffering is useful
(3) One test of relationship with God is peace.
(4) Growth and changes are the work of the cross
(5) Give grace to yourself and others.

read complete article here






Os Guinness from Trinity Forum (a Christian think tank) edited a book (1999), Character Counts, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books in which scholars examined the character and leadership qualities of Washington, Wilberforce, Lincoln and Solzhenitsyn.

Each of these persons were examined from their biography to determine what molded their character and made them who they are.


...that adversity, apart from its power to overwhelm, has the potential to reveal the moral character and create life-changing leaders.

The Resurrected Life

The resurrection life is a practice…we engage in a life that is permeable by the presence and companionship of the resurrected Jesus in the company of friends.

Eugene Peterson postulated that we are now living resurrected life. This resurrected life involves:

(1)Practice
(2)Resurrection wonder
(3)Sabbath keeping
(4)Eucharist
(5)Friends

We need to practice living a life as if we are already aready death and are already living a resurrected life.

The resurrected life awakes in us the forgotten sense of wonder in knowing God.

Sabbath keeping as a constant reminder and discipline.

Eucharist as the communion with God.

Resurrection lives are to be lived with friend.


.

The Resurrected Life

The resurrection life is a practice…we engage in a life that is permeable by the presence and companionship of the resurrected Jesus in the company of friends.

Eugene Peterson postulated that we are now living resurrected life. This resurrected life involves:

(1)Practice
(2)Resurrection wonder
(3)Sabbath keeping
(4)Eucharist
(5)Friends

We need to practice living a life as if we are already aready death and are already living a resurrected life.

The resurrected life awakes in us the forgotten sense of wonder in knowing God.

Sabbath keeping as a constant reminder and discipline.

Eucharist as the communion with God.

Resurrection lives are to be lived with friend.


.

Interesting Questions

While thinking about and preparing a lecture for a varsity student conference, I find myself wrestling with few interesting personal integrity questions.


•“Everyone is doing it, so why shouldn’t I?”

•“It’s not illegal”

•“They did it to me, so I’m going to do it to them.”

•“If I don’t do it, someone else will.”

•“Why follow standard operating protocols? Others don’t”

•“I am not supposed to but here’s something I must tell you”

.

Interesting Questions

While thinking about and preparing a lecture for a varsity student conference, I find myself wrestling with few interesting personal integrity questions.


•“Everyone is doing it, so why shouldn’t I?”

•“It’s not illegal”

•“They did it to me, so I’m going to do it to them.”

•“If I don’t do it, someone else will.”

•“Why follow standard operating protocols? Others don’t”

•“I am not supposed to but here’s something I must tell you”

.

The White Feather of Cowardice

The Four Feathers is a remake of a timeless romance based on a novel. This movie was made in 2002. The previous movies were made in 1939 and 1977. Like all great stories, it is about love, honor, loyalties and discovering who we really are. This movie is set in the 19th Century when the British Empire ruled the world.

In Sudan there was an uprising led by an Islamic fundamentalist called Mahdi. This was the time of General Gordon of Khartoum. The British garrisons in Sudan were annihilated by the local rebels and fresh British troops were being sent in.

Harry Feversham was son of General Feversham, a famous British general. He had always drifted through life, doing what his authoritative father wanted him to do. After college, he joined the army. His intention was to hold a military commission for two years (as expected by his father) and then resign and get on with his life. He is in love with a beautiful girl who loved him and they were about to be married. Harry's life shattered when his regiment were sent to Sudan. Harry suddenly discovered that he really do not know who he is. In his gesalt of self discovery, he discovered that he did not want to go to war. Harry resigned his commission. In the 19th century, it was regarded as a noble task to fight for the Queen and country. To refuse to fight is regarded as an act of cowardice. This is symbolised by three white feathers sent by his three best friends in the regiment. The fourth was from his fiance!

The story is about a man who set out on a journey of inner self discovery. His refusal to go to war and resignation from the army branded him a coward. So he set out to Sudan to face his inner demons. One by one he redeemed his white feathers by saving his friends in heroic situations. He found that being brave is not the courage to face death but to face life.

This is a period movie with costumes and cliches. Yet, it is timeless because it deals with a basic question. Who are we? When the houses of card on which we built our identities collapsed and we are flat on the ground, then we will really know who we really are. How may of us have the courage to rebuild with solid bricks and a strong foundation? I suspect many of us will prefer to rebuild our houses of card again.

The key scene in the movie was when Harry told his fiance that he was refusing to go to war. They were in a nave of a church. The next time they met at the end of the movie in the same place, Harry was a changed person. It is symbolic as it reminds me of one of Elliot poem that in searching for ourselves, we will end up from where we began. The search is within, not without.

There is a lot of fighting and bloody scenes, comparable to Zulu but not like 300. Bloody good show, what?

.

The White Feather of Cowardice

The Four Feathers is a remake of a timeless romance based on a novel. This movie was made in 2002. The previous movies were made in 1939 and 1977. Like all great stories, it is about love, honor, loyalties and discovering who we really are. This movie is set in the 19th Century when the British Empire ruled the world.

In Sudan there was an uprising led by an Islamic fundamentalist called Mahdi. This was the time of General Gordon of Khartoum. The British garrisons in Sudan were annihilated by the local rebels and fresh British troops were being sent in.

Harry Feversham was son of General Feversham, a famous British general. He had always drifted through life, doing what his authoritative father wanted him to do. After college, he joined the army. His intention was to hold a military commission for two years (as expected by his father) and then resign and get on with his life. He is in love with a beautiful girl who loved him and they were about to be married. Harry's life shattered when his regiment were sent to Sudan. Harry suddenly discovered that he really do not know who he is. In his gesalt of self discovery, he discovered that he did not want to go to war. Harry resigned his commission. In the 19th century, it was regarded as a noble task to fight for the Queen and country. To refuse to fight is regarded as an act of cowardice. This is symbolised by three white feathers sent by his three best friends in the regiment. The fourth was from his fiance!

The story is about a man who set out on a journey of inner self discovery. His refusal to go to war and resignation from the army branded him a coward. So he set out to Sudan to face his inner demons. One by one he redeemed his white feathers by saving his friends in heroic situations. He found that being brave is not the courage to face death but to face life.

This is a period movie with costumes and cliches. Yet, it is timeless because it deals with a basic question. Who are we? When the houses of card on which we built our identities collapsed and we are flat on the ground, then we will really know who we really are. How may of us have the courage to rebuild with solid bricks and a strong foundation? I suspect many of us will prefer to rebuild our houses of card again.

The key scene in the movie was when Harry told his fiance that he was refusing to go to war. They were in a nave of a church. The next time they met at the end of the movie in the same place, Harry was a changed person. It is symbolic as it reminds me of one of Elliot poem that in searching for ourselves, we will end up from where we began. The search is within, not without.

There is a lot of fighting and bloody scenes, comparable to Zulu but not like 300. Bloody good show, what?

.

On Retirement and Semi Retirement

Received this from my friend and fellow spiritual traveller, Punna. This is in line with Blogpastor's post on Can I Retire?


Optimum Strategies for Creativity and Longevity
By Sing Lin, Ph.D.
Member of National Council of Chinese Institute of Engineers – USA/Greater New York Chapter, and Member of Board of Director of National Taiwan University Alumni Association – Greater New York (March 2002)

1. Most Creative Years in the Life

The Nobel Laureate, Dr. Leo Esaki, delivered the distinguished lecture entitled "Innovation and Evolution: Reflections on a Life in Research" in the University of Texas at Dallas in the afternoon of Feb. 23, 2002 during the 2002 US National Engineering Week. In this lecture, Dr. Esaki indicated that most of the great discoveries and innovations by the Nobel Laureates occurred at the average age of 32 even though the Nobel prizes were awarded 10 or 20 years afterwards. Furthermore, Dr. Esaki indicated that the peak creativity of most scientists occurred around the age range of 20 to 30 years. As one gets older, the experience increases but the creativity decreases steadily with the age.

It is, therefore, very important to stimulate, encourage and cultivate many young people to get interested in science and engineering at their young age and to provide the optimal R&D environment for these very powerful young scientists and engineers to unleash their very strong creativities during their most precious and creative years around the age of 32.

2. Longevity Vs. Retirement Age

The pension funds in many large corporations (e.g., Boeing, Lockheed Martin, AT&T, Lucent Technologies, etc.) have been "Over Funded" because many "late retirees" who keep-on working into their old age and retire late after the age of 65 tend to die within two years after their retirements. In other words, many of these late retirees do not live long enough to collect all their fair shares of pension money such that they leave a lot of extra-unused money in the pension funds resulting in the over-funded pension funds.

Dr. Ephrem (Siao Chung) Cheng provided the important results in the following Table 1 from an actuarial study of life span vs. age at retirement. The study was based on the number of pension checks sent to retirees of Boeing Aerospace.

Table 1 – Actuarial Study of life span vs. age at retirement
Age at Retirement (Average Age At Death)
49.9(86.0)
51.2(85.3)
52.5(84.6)
53.8(83.9)
55.1(83.2)
56.4(82.5)
57.2(81.4)
58.3(80.0)
59.2(78.5)
60.1(76.8)
61.0(74.5)
62.1(71.8)
63.1(69.3)
64.1(67.9)
65.2(66.8)

Table 1 indicates that for people retired at the age of 50, their average life span is 86; whereas for people retired at the age of 65, their average life span is only 66.8. An important conclusion from this study is that for every year one works beyond age 55, one loses 2 years of life span on average.

The Boeing experience is that employees retiring at age of 65 receive pension checks for only 18 months, on average, prior to death. Similarly, the Lockheed experience is that employees retiring at age of 65 receive pension checks for only 17 months, on average, prior to death. Dr. David T. Chai indicated that the Bell Labs experience is similar to those of Boeing and Lockheed based on the casual observation from the Newsletters of Bell Lab retirees. A retiree from Ford Motor told Dr. Paul Tien-Lin Ho that the experience from Ford Motor is also similar to those in Boeing and Lockheed.

The hard-working late retirees probably put too much stress on their aging body-and-mind such that they are so stressed out to develop various serious health problems that forced them to quit and retire. With such long-term stress-induced serious health problems, they die within two years after they quit and retire.

On the other hand, people who take early retirements at the age of 55 tend to live long and well into their 80s and beyond. These earlier retirees probably are either wealthier or more able to plan and manage their various aspects of their life, health and career well such that they can afford to retire early and comfortably.

These early retirees are not really idling after their early retirements to get old. They still continue doing some work. But they do the work on the part-time basis at a more leisure pace so that they do not get too stressed out. Furthermore, they have the luxury to pick and chose the types of part-time work of real interest to them so that they can enjoy and love doing that "fun" work at a more leisure pace.

The late retirees are small in number, tend to die quickly after retirement and disappear from the population of old people beyond the age of 70. Late retirees, therefore, have very little weight on the statistical average life expectancy of the population of "old people" dominated by the early retirees.

Conclusion and Recommendations

The most precious, creative and innovative period in your life is the 10-year period around the age of 32. Plan your career path to use this precious 10-year period wisely and effectively to produce your greatest achievements in your life.

The pace of innovations and technology advances is getting faster and faster and is forcing everybody to compete fiercely at the Internet speed on the information super-highways. The highly productive and highly efficient workplace in USA is a pressure-cooker and a high-speed battleground for highly creative and dynamic young people to compete and to flourish.

However, when you get older, you should plan your career path and financial matter so that you can retire comfortably at the age of 55 or earlier to enjoy your long, happy and leisure retirement life into your golden age of 80s and beyond. In retirement, you can still enjoy some fun work of great interest to you and of great values to the society and the community, but at a part-time leisure pace on your own term.

On the other hand, if you are not able to get out of the pressure-cooker or the high-speed battleground at the age of 55 and "have" to keep on working very hard until the age of 65 or older before your retirement, then you probably will die within 18 months of retirement. By working very hard in the pressure cooker for 10 more years beyond the age of 55, you give up at least 20 years of your life span on average.

Personally I feel that there is a watershed is all our life. I do not think there should be a fixed age about it. Before this age, say 55 years, we are working hard first to establish our careers, to start and develop our families (for those married), to serve our churches, and to improve ourselves. The watershed comes after our children have graduated from university (and begin their own lives), and we have reached the peak in our chosen careers. We then move into a stage of producing significance. In this stage we do not have to worry about paying for our children's education, our mortgages should be paid up and as Fowler said, we should be thinking about our legacy. What do we want to leave behind? I believe our legacy should not be physical but spiritual.

Retirement? I do not think it is biblical and we should serve Him until He calls us home.

soli deo gloria

On Retirement and Semi Retirement

Received this from my friend and fellow spiritual traveller, Punna. This is in line with Blogpastor's post on Can I Retire?


Optimum Strategies for Creativity and Longevity
By Sing Lin, Ph.D.
Member of National Council of Chinese Institute of Engineers – USA/Greater New York Chapter, and Member of Board of Director of National Taiwan University Alumni Association – Greater New York (March 2002)

1. Most Creative Years in the Life

The Nobel Laureate, Dr. Leo Esaki, delivered the distinguished lecture entitled "Innovation and Evolution: Reflections on a Life in Research" in the University of Texas at Dallas in the afternoon of Feb. 23, 2002 during the 2002 US National Engineering Week. In this lecture, Dr. Esaki indicated that most of the great discoveries and innovations by the Nobel Laureates occurred at the average age of 32 even though the Nobel prizes were awarded 10 or 20 years afterwards. Furthermore, Dr. Esaki indicated that the peak creativity of most scientists occurred around the age range of 20 to 30 years. As one gets older, the experience increases but the creativity decreases steadily with the age.

It is, therefore, very important to stimulate, encourage and cultivate many young people to get interested in science and engineering at their young age and to provide the optimal R&D environment for these very powerful young scientists and engineers to unleash their very strong creativities during their most precious and creative years around the age of 32.

2. Longevity Vs. Retirement Age

The pension funds in many large corporations (e.g., Boeing, Lockheed Martin, AT&T, Lucent Technologies, etc.) have been "Over Funded" because many "late retirees" who keep-on working into their old age and retire late after the age of 65 tend to die within two years after their retirements. In other words, many of these late retirees do not live long enough to collect all their fair shares of pension money such that they leave a lot of extra-unused money in the pension funds resulting in the over-funded pension funds.

Dr. Ephrem (Siao Chung) Cheng provided the important results in the following Table 1 from an actuarial study of life span vs. age at retirement. The study was based on the number of pension checks sent to retirees of Boeing Aerospace.

Table 1 – Actuarial Study of life span vs. age at retirement
Age at Retirement (Average Age At Death)
49.9(86.0)
51.2(85.3)
52.5(84.6)
53.8(83.9)
55.1(83.2)
56.4(82.5)
57.2(81.4)
58.3(80.0)
59.2(78.5)
60.1(76.8)
61.0(74.5)
62.1(71.8)
63.1(69.3)
64.1(67.9)
65.2(66.8)

Table 1 indicates that for people retired at the age of 50, their average life span is 86; whereas for people retired at the age of 65, their average life span is only 66.8. An important conclusion from this study is that for every year one works beyond age 55, one loses 2 years of life span on average.

The Boeing experience is that employees retiring at age of 65 receive pension checks for only 18 months, on average, prior to death. Similarly, the Lockheed experience is that employees retiring at age of 65 receive pension checks for only 17 months, on average, prior to death. Dr. David T. Chai indicated that the Bell Labs experience is similar to those of Boeing and Lockheed based on the casual observation from the Newsletters of Bell Lab retirees. A retiree from Ford Motor told Dr. Paul Tien-Lin Ho that the experience from Ford Motor is also similar to those in Boeing and Lockheed.

The hard-working late retirees probably put too much stress on their aging body-and-mind such that they are so stressed out to develop various serious health problems that forced them to quit and retire. With such long-term stress-induced serious health problems, they die within two years after they quit and retire.

On the other hand, people who take early retirements at the age of 55 tend to live long and well into their 80s and beyond. These earlier retirees probably are either wealthier or more able to plan and manage their various aspects of their life, health and career well such that they can afford to retire early and comfortably.

These early retirees are not really idling after their early retirements to get old. They still continue doing some work. But they do the work on the part-time basis at a more leisure pace so that they do not get too stressed out. Furthermore, they have the luxury to pick and chose the types of part-time work of real interest to them so that they can enjoy and love doing that "fun" work at a more leisure pace.

The late retirees are small in number, tend to die quickly after retirement and disappear from the population of old people beyond the age of 70. Late retirees, therefore, have very little weight on the statistical average life expectancy of the population of "old people" dominated by the early retirees.

Conclusion and Recommendations

The most precious, creative and innovative period in your life is the 10-year period around the age of 32. Plan your career path to use this precious 10-year period wisely and effectively to produce your greatest achievements in your life.

The pace of innovations and technology advances is getting faster and faster and is forcing everybody to compete fiercely at the Internet speed on the information super-highways. The highly productive and highly efficient workplace in USA is a pressure-cooker and a high-speed battleground for highly creative and dynamic young people to compete and to flourish.

However, when you get older, you should plan your career path and financial matter so that you can retire comfortably at the age of 55 or earlier to enjoy your long, happy and leisure retirement life into your golden age of 80s and beyond. In retirement, you can still enjoy some fun work of great interest to you and of great values to the society and the community, but at a part-time leisure pace on your own term.

On the other hand, if you are not able to get out of the pressure-cooker or the high-speed battleground at the age of 55 and "have" to keep on working very hard until the age of 65 or older before your retirement, then you probably will die within 18 months of retirement. By working very hard in the pressure cooker for 10 more years beyond the age of 55, you give up at least 20 years of your life span on average.

Personally I feel that there is a watershed is all our life. I do not think there should be a fixed age about it. Before this age, say 55 years, we are working hard first to establish our careers, to start and develop our families (for those married), to serve our churches, and to improve ourselves. The watershed comes after our children have graduated from university (and begin their own lives), and we have reached the peak in our chosen careers. We then move into a stage of producing significance. In this stage we do not have to worry about paying for our children's education, our mortgages should be paid up and as Fowler said, we should be thinking about our legacy. What do we want to leave behind? I believe our legacy should not be physical but spiritual.

Retirement? I do not think it is biblical and we should serve Him until He calls us home.

soli deo gloria