Growing old .. and red wine

My favorite news magazine is The Week, a summary of news articles and commentaries from around the world. This week they shared a report from National Geographic about the secrets of longevity. Researchers pinpointed five areas -- called Blue Zones -- where residents made it to their 100th birthday at 10 times the rate of the general US population. Places like Sardinia, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; Ikaria, Greece; Nicoya, Costa Rica; and Loma Linda, California.

We would all do well to look closely at what researches say are the nine most important contributing factors: keeping physically active, maintaining a sense of purpose, taking time to relax/play, avoid overeating, plant-based diets, close family ties, socializing, drinking wine (1 or 2 glasses a day), and participating in a faith-based community.

Well there you have it. If you've ever wondered why you should come to church, now you know. Well, let's just claim it as "yet another reason." Staying active in your church, researchers tell us, cultivates a sense of purpose, protects against cognitive decline, boosts happiness, and may well be the secret to longevity.

It's all in the data. Oh, and a glass or two of red wine can't hurt.

Don't you just love working in God's Garden?

More shootings. Where's the leadership?

Two more mass shootings. Another young adult male arrested. 3 more deaths and 7 more injured. More "our prayers go with the victims" and, soon, more proposals to spend even more money (excuse me, reassign already-budgeted monies) securing public space.

Do we see an end to any of this?

One of the shooting victims in Charlotte was a friend of our communications specialist. One of the students present in the classroom is related to our children's minister. Even if there were no connections at all, the fact that UNCC is but 34 miles away is chilling.

But what hurt as much as anything was hearing the grim story of Lori Kaye, a member of the San Diego synagogue who courageously jumped between the shooter and her rabbi, a close friend. She later died in her husband's arms.

When will this end? The common thread to all of these shootings -- and there seem to have been a lot lately -- is hatred. White supremacists and

anti-Semites are easy to blame, and sure enough their brand of hatred has to be identified and called out on the national stage.

But there's more to it than that. Our increasingly violent culture (something Psychology Today has been writing about for years) is a mixed bag of mental health issues, TV and video game violence, domestic disputes (54 percent of shooting deaths are committed by intimate partners), our imprisonment philosophy, racial unrest, and the proliferation of guns, just to name a few. We'll wring our hands about all of them, but several weeks from now, little will change. Which, interestingly, is the street definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results.

We need leaders who heed the words of Moses in times of crisis and uncertainty: Now is the time to "be bold and courageous," he told the people of Israel (Deut. 31:6). I agree. Now is the time for bold and courageous leaders who set aside grand-standing and partisan bickering in order to find common ground and create viable policy. It's possible.

In the meantime, our prayers go with the victims, their families, and the UNCC, San Diego, and Jewish communities reeling from yet another senseless act of hatred. May God grant to them and all of us a "peace that passes all understanding" (Philippians 4:7).

A make-shift memorial at UNCC's Kennedy Building, where the shootings took place.