The Bible Speaks to You March 2, 1963 Issue

[The above is substantially the text of the program released for broadcast the weekend of February 22-24 in the radio series, " The Bible Speaks to You " heard internationally over more than 800 stations. This is one of the weekly programs produced by the Christian Science Committee on Publication, 107 Falmouth Street, Boston 15, Massachusetts.]

RADIO PROGRAM No. 47 - Gaining Dominion Over Age

HOST: In recent years a number of popular notions about old age have been sharply questioned from many directions. The commonly accepted view that age brings physical and mental decline is now vigorously challenged. A few years ago in an article in The New York Times magazine, Dr. David D. Stonecypher, Jr., a specialist in this field, said, "The current ideas of old age are as far wrong and as harmful as the beliefs surrounding witchcraft a few centuries ago." He noted that "old age is commonly viewed as a time of poor health, mental deterioration and loneliness." But then he said that modern research "denies that any of these is necessarily a part of old age." He added: "There is one known factor which seems adequate to explain the whole picture of senility. That is the immense degree of fear and frustration associated with growing old in our society." [Copyright by The New York Times. Reprinted by permission.]

In view of these findings, let me ask this question, How can people cope with the challenge of advancing years?

SPEAKER: What needs to be dealt with is the nature of our thoughts, not the calendar; that certainly is important to recognize. But it isn't enough to tell someone who's feeling helpless or unwanted that his problem is mental, not physical, and just leave it there. We need to ask, What brings the fear, the frustration, the loneliness? To the Christian Scientist, these are symptoms of spiritual impoverishment. They point to a deep spiritual void that needs to be filled and that can be filled. This need isn't met by playing shuffleboard or by travel or even by occupational therapy. The spiritual void has to be filled spiritually, that is, with spiritual understanding of God and man.

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