SOCIETY is wrestling with some pretty deep questions. Do age and time affect our lives? Does living to a "ripe old age" mean we have lived a good life? Does time determine how long we live? What is life?

Perhaps you wonder about such questions. I do! Recently I read the book of Genesis and found some answers by relating "life then" to "life now." People then lived for centuries. The man named Enoch is mentioned only briefly (see Gen. 5:22—24), but what we do find about him hints that age and time are not primary, in fact not even important for one who, like Enoch, walks with God. Enoch did not die, the Bible indicates. He simply rose above earth. Did Enoch know something we aren't knowing?

Perhaps we have wrongly estimated life by thinking of it in basically material terms and expecting decay to come as part of a so-called "natural" process. But remember that Enoch "walked with God," and this changed the quality of his life for the better. Enoch's pure consciousness of Life as Spirit lifted him up from earth and its limiting laws, including age and time. Enoch's clear sense of God as his Life lifted his human experience to spiritual heights where time, including age, is unknown and nonexistent.

Can we silence age and time to the point where they no longer affect our thinking and acting? Can we actually experience dominion over our bodies when we're known as seniors? I am enjoying more vitality and freedom than ever before because I rely on God, Spirit, as my Life and strength. I drive anywhere, meet the public confidently, and do housework easily. Enoch inspires me to walk with God consistently so that limitations of time or age do not get credit in my thought.

You, too, can prove that faculties, action, and memory are unaffected by time because they come from Spirit. Just think! As God's spiritual likeness, you and I are strengthened with measureless might. Since God is the source of all right action, our real purpose is simply to express His will. When we understand this, we can let go of the lie "I'm no longer able." We are able because we know that God's will is unlimited good.

If we're tempted to believe that we're weak, wobbly, or forgetful, we can stoutly cut these lies down to nothingness. We're able to because we're walking with God, fervently and faithfully. Renewal, not deterioration, is the law that governs us. Being conscious of eternal Life, we stand up for our God-given being, which reflects strength, agility, energy, resilience, and stamina.

Knowing we have all these wonderful qualities and more instills newness every morning. We wake loving God, Spirit, as our Life, and each day—no matter what tasks are to be done—is devoted to serving Him. Consciously walking with Him includes hearing His guidance, so our day is patterned to fulfill His purposes.

This pure spiritual intent must become our reason for being. It's this selfless motive that overrules beliefs that we are deteriorating or running out of time. We no longer coddle our bodies, dwell on the past, or lean on matter for strength to walk, because we're doing God's will. Knowing that Spirit is our source and that our faculties are new every morning, we trust God to maintain us without interruption as we carry out our divinely planned purpose. This is the ultimate "good life." This is honoring Spirit as our true and only being.

In Spirit, neither age nor time is relevant. Spirit's idea—that's your and my true being—was never in matter, so in reality there's no matter to overcome. As Christ Jesus said, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing" (John 6:63). To the degree that we deny matter's ultimate reality and reject mortality, we restore normal movement and discover more of the spiritual delights to be found in knowing our dear God. He gives us tireless, unrestricted being, which includes bending, stooping, dancing, or bathing effortlessly. As we realize and claim our nature to be spiritual, inseparable from Life, God, we reflect more and more of our immortal completeness.

On page 246 Science and Health explains: "Life and its faculties are not measured by calendars. The perfect and immortal are the eternal likeness of their Maker. Man is by no means a material germ rising from the imperfect and endeavoring to reach Spirit above his origin." A bit farther down the page, it continues: "Except for the error of measuring and limiting all that is good and beautiful, man would enjoy more than threescore years and ten and still maintain his vigor, freshness, and promise. Man, governed by immortal Mind, is always beautiful and grand. Each succeeding year unfolds wisdom, beauty, and holiness."

Walking with God ignites and glorifies our present experience and keeps it lively and truly rewarding. Let's join forces in proving man's uncalendared infinite being!