SOME DAY in the not too distant future, we believe, researchers will find that the second most important factor in living longer and more robust lives is having clear-cut purpose and meaning in one's life. The most important factor? Spirituality and the spiritual dimensions of self-care.

Consider the aptly named Purpose Prizes, awarded in the United States for the first time a few weeks ago. These awards recognized beyond-ordinary contributions of fairly ordinary people (all of them over 60), benefiting "the wider community." The founder of the organization sponsoring the prizes noted that all recipients shared "an overarching sense of optimism, idealism, and purpose. They have a tremendous desire to have a sense of direction in their lives ..." (Los Angeles Times, September 5, 2006).

Being near retirement age was presented only as a qualification for Purpose Prize candidates, not an argument that purposeful direction in life results in longevity. But as the Times's report pointed out, the prize-givers clearly hope that those selected will serve as role models, encouraging others "not to slow down with age."

Christian Science takes the how and why of not slowing down to their deepest roots—to the nature of God as the Eternal; and the nature of man as immortal idea, as the male and female whom God authors. As human life becomes more fully informed by the underlying truth of spiritual existence, we should expect to live longer, more purposeful, more widely beneficial lives. And yet, increasing human longevity is not so much an end in itself as it is evidence that humanity is feeling the effect of the Comforter, which Christ Jesus promised would come in his name and "teach [us] all things" (John 14:26).

Among the most elemental of these things is that God is Life eternal, the sole life-force of the universe. Because God never stops being Life, and therefore never slows down, creation made "in His likeness" can never die—can never stop living, growing, giving evidence of its unchanging source.

True, we have much to learn and prove about living in the eternal "now." Truth is proved true incrementally, step by step. But as we more effectively defend our right to grow spiritually without slowing down—and to enjoy work that has real meaning and ripple effects—we will age more gracefully. And with mental acuity and bodily freedom intact.

To better defend our right to continuous spiritual growth, we might consider points such as these:

• We're never too young to pray about aging, and never too old to claim our right to the true "second childhood" of spiritual maturity.

• Life's holier kind of math can liberate us from the depressing arithmetic of lives measured by so many earth-trips around the sun. "Beloved," the Bible reminds us, "be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day" (II Pet. 3:8). Are we hearing the promises of the Gospels and New Testament letters as if they were uttered just two days ago?

• As Mary Baker Eddy explained in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, "... to understand God is the work of eternity, and demands absolute consecration of thought, energy, and desire" (p. 3). If someone we love has passed on "before his (or her) natural time" —perhaps even one who was working on the front lines—death has not changed who they are, the spiritual truths they loved and lived, our opportunities to learn from their example and character, nor the "work of eternity" that each of us has to do. The divine Mind gives every idea permanent employment.

• Life eternal means life without death, and without birth in matter. It involves proving the universality of Christ Jesus' remarkable statement "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58). God loved humanity so much that He gave His Son, the eternal Christ, to awaken us to unending life in God.

• We don't have to accept any darkening condition or circumstance as a private prison. Instead, we can crave making daily spiritual discoveries. The pursuit of Life generates its own light.

• We can each cultivate our special art, the God-gift that makes life vibrant and unavoidably generous.

• Willingness to aid the global family begins with a lively hunger to know what's going on in nations and neighborhoods.

They may not be among the Purpose Prize winners ... yet. But those who devote themselves to healing in its specific Christian and broadest meanings are answering the divine demand to never slow down. And finding purpose in one's spiritual practice and public service truly should be the ultimate longevity promoter.