Why the Difference?
THOSE figures on the front cover are not fiction—they are fact.
Trees often live far longer than man—among beech trees ages of 250 to 300 years are common. Sturdy English oaks may reach 500. At 1,000 years the giant sequoia of California is still a youngster. By actual ring count sequoias are known to have lived from 3,000 to 4,000 years.
Indeed, with regard to sequoia trees, Dr. Ferdinand C. Lane, in The Story of Trees, said that he “found no record that any had ever succumbed to mere old age and guessed that if the hazards of lightning, fire and storm could be eliminated, some of these great trees might defy the ravages of time for 10,000 years.”
Yet research now shows that bristlecone pines surpass even the sequoias in age! Compared to these plants, man’s lifespan seems disappointingly short. Why is this?
Yes, why are humans also outlived by tortoises, like the giant Galápagos tortoises that regularly live from 100 to 150 years? Cases on record show tortoises passing the 200-year mark. Yet men living just one century are rare.
For that matter, why do even parrots occasionally become centenarians, with the claimed record age being 140 years?
True, modern man’s life-span is longer than that of most other living things, plants and animals, on this earth. But surely you will agree that the fact that even some living things outlast man by such a wide margin—anywhere from double up to fifty times as great—is puzzling, thought-provoking.
Does it seem reasonable to you that certain mindless plants, simple reptiles and birds should enjoy the priceless possession of life longer than intelligent humans? Or should it be the other way around?
If we accept the belief that man has a Creator, then to say that this is the way things were meant to be is equal to saying that some trees and animals are worth more to God than his highest earthly creation, man. Yet Jesus Christ, in his Sermon on the Mount, told his followers they were worth far more to their heavenly Father than birds or vegetation. (Matt. 6:25-30) The Bible, in fact, states that man was assigned by God to exercise dominion over all other living things on this planet, animals and vegetation. (Gen. 1:26-30) Appropriately, the one who exercises dominion should not die off before the things that are inferior to him.
To abandon belief in a Creator in favor of the theory of evolution solves nothing. Actually, it leaves us faced with an enigma. That theory portrays man as the ultimate product of an evolutionary process. The question, however, remains: Why would such process deal so bountifully with trees and tortoises and so sparingly with humans in the vital matter of life duration?
The satisfying answer to all these questions is what this issue of Awake! is about. Whether you are young or old, it will be worth your while to read it. Aging Andrew Carnegie once said: “I would give all my millions, if I could have youth and health. . . . I would gladly sell anything to have my life over again.” You undoubtedly love life and would be willing to pay a high price to see your life-span extend beyond the present average. For the cost of only some time and effort you can learn why there is a reasonable, solidly based and attainable hope of seeing that desire realized.