The House of Quiet

Hutt News, Volume XXII, Issue 3, 30 June 1948, Page 5

The House of Quiet

A NEW LEASE OF LIFE

(Contributed by the Hutt Valley Ministers’ Fraternal.)

Man may live for 150 years! Such is the assertion made, by Professor Alexander A. Bogomolets who claims to have discovered a

new life-giving serum, which, when available for use, will cojmpletely revolutionise present-day methods of combating the degenerative processes and attendant diseases which harass the human frame when life has passed its half-way mark. With a staff of 60 at the Kiev Institute of Experimental Biology and Pathology the professor has given years of research and study to the problem of old age. He has made clinical studies of nearly 3 0,0 00 men who had passed the century mark. The resultant discoveries have led him to the conclusion that the connective tissue wall between the blood and the cells was the central power station of life—the “fountain of youth” / regulating the basicmetabolic processes of life. The serum which he has developed and named 'ACS will, he claims, by its action on this connective-tissue, increase man’s normal expectancy of life from 70 to 150 years. The Passion lor Life

Most, if not all, will admit that, if at all practicably the discovery will be a welcome boon to mankind. To all life is sweet, and be the circumstances what they may the desire to live is strong in every heart. Men have gone to great lengths to discover the miracle-working elixir. The quest of the distinguished professor is but the continuance of that frantic search for life undertaken and prosecuted by the alchemists of ages past. Why is this passion for life so actively present in the human soul? The only logical answer is that man, ever since creation —deny it as he may—has deep within his heart a consciousness of and desire for immortality. Within his breast is the unquenchable conviction that he is not merely the automaton of a day but the creature of eternity. As one very popular writer has expressed it: “When Almighty God, amidst the glistening dews of Creation’s early morning, stooped over Adam’s prostrate clay, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, He at the same time whispered to the conscious instincts of man’s unsullied spirit a radiant promise of immortality.” Humanity, exemplified in the great professor and his staff of scientists, wants to live, and live for ever. Hence the ever increasing fight against the processes of death.

Life’s True Philosophy Most thinking people will admit that life cannot be measured in length of days. The vital question is not how long a man may live, but how well he lives. It is quality that counts and not length of days. Some have died in their early twenties, but they have packed more of vital worth into that short span than have others who have frittered away their lives in aimless existence, even though their days dragged past the three score years and ten. Length of days, if governed by perverted impulses, proves more a bane than a blessing. It would be a scourge to the individual concerned and to thousands yet unborn. This is amply demonstrated in blighted homes, blasted lives and broken hearts which have ever marked the trail of profligate and selfish living. On the other hand, a life-span of 30 years or less, lived witli noble purpose, uplifting influence, enriching and ennobling service, is a blessing that will never cease. In reality such a life will never die. “He livelh long who liveth well— All other life is short and vain, He liveth longest, who can tell Of living most for heavenly gain.” That is the only 'philosophy of life. It is the word of the great est Teacher the world, has ever

known: “He thal loveth His life shall lose it; he that losetli his life for my sake the same shail save it.” In other words: Life can be ours only when we surrender what we have to the service of Christ. To make that possible He gave His own life for us. Now, by Faith we may give ourselves to Him, and through that act of, (surrender enter into the inheritance of “Life Eternal.” “The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Whether humanity will really benefit by Professor Bogomolet’s discovery is, in the final analysis, a matter of very small moment. • That we make the best use of the lives we have, and so leave behind us an influence for good that shall never die, is of the utmost importance. One can but lead to the prolongation of a mere material existence. The other leads to an eternal inheritance. To realise it in actual experience we need but follow the advice of the ancient sage: “What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days . . . (Let him) depart from evil, and do good: (let him) seek peace and pursue it.” “He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth LIFE, righteousness and honour.” There alone lies the true elixir of life. »