Plastic Surgery

A few years ago an 82 year old woman in America had major cosmetic surgery involving a face lift, botox injections to smooth out the wrinkles, lip re-sculpting, and much much more. It all had required seven hours of surgery and had cost $25,000. When she was asked why in the world she would do this, she replied that there was no point in waiting until she got any older.

Somewhere on our planet today, according to scientists, is a child who they say will still be alive 150 – 180 years from now. That sounds so incredible until, according to the same scientists, we consider how our lifespan has increased over the years.

When Jesus died at around age 33, He would have been pretty old for that part of the world. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the average lifespan  was 49 and many women died in childbirth. Many more people died of disease. If they lived to be 60, they were pretty old. If someone died in 1965 at the age of 74 it was considered relatively old for that time, but now the average lifespan is just over 81 years of age. The retirement age is being pushed up and there are people in their 80’s who are running marathons.  

Sir James Simpson - Discovering meaning in life

In  Bathgate, a town in Scotland, a boy was born in 1811.  His family were not wealthy, and his mother died when he was nine years old, but he went on to become one of the most famous doctors that has ever lived.  His name was James Simpson, and he was educated at the University of Edinburgh and trained as a doctor.

He attended the operating room soon after starting his medical training and the place was not as clean as it might be, and there were no gowns, masks or gloves worn by those doing the operation. The patient was terrified and had to be held down firmly on the table as the operation took place.  As the surgical knife was used, the screams of the patient echoed around the building as there were no anaesthetics in those days.  The sound of that distressed patient stayed with James Simpson, and he determined to see an end to such suffering and conscious surgery.