U.S. Life Expectancy Slides

June 4, 2018 at 5:15 am Leave a comment

King Solomon makes a sobering statement in the book of Ecclesiastes:

The wise have eyes in their heads, while the fool walks in the darkness; but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both. (Ecclesiastes 2:14)

Solomon knows that, for all humanity’s wisdom, no one is clever enough to outrun, outsmart, or outmaneuver fate. The wise, just like the foolish, share the same fate of death. As Solomon puts it later in Ecclesiastes: “Death is the destiny of everyone” (Ecclesiastes 7:2).

I was reminded of this truth when I came across this headline: “With death rate up, U.S. life expectancy is likely down again.” Mike Stobbe, writing for the Associated Press, explains:

The U.S. death rate rose last year, and 2017 likely will mark the third straight year of decline in American life expectancy, according to preliminary data.

Death rates rose for Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, flu and pneumonia, and three other leading causes of death, according to numbers posted online Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The progress we have made in fighting disease has been nothing short of astonishing. From advances in treating HIV to new drugs for ALS and MS to promising gene therapies for certain types of cancer, we are making extraordinary strides in protecting and extending life. But disease still haunts us and hurts us. What’s more, it’s not just disease that threatens us existentially, it’s we who threaten ourselves personally. As Mr. Stobbe notes:

Full-year data is not yet available for drug overdoses, suicides or firearm deaths. But partial-year statistics in those categories showed continuing increases.

The indicators from late-2017 looked grim on both drug overdose, where U.S. deaths skyrocketed 21 percent, and on firearm deaths, two-thirds of which are suicides. As it turns out, we are often our own worst enemies.

I sometimes wonder if our societally sliding life expectancy doesn’t have an inverse relationship to our personally skyrocketing life expectations. Far too many people have unattainable, unsustainable, and, frankly, misplaced expectations for life. Some people expect riches. Others expect pleasure. Others expect ease. Still others expect perfection. When these expectations are not met, sometimes, some people slide into destructive habits, patterns, addictions, and even moments of despair. And a life expectancy craters because life expectations are not met.

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon notes that even if a person recklessly indulges every desire, his life expectations will remain impoverished. Life expectations based in things like riches, pleasure, ease, and perfection can never satisfy. This is why we must place our deepest expectations not with our individual longings, but in our transcendent Lord. For when we do, even if our life expectancy is cut short, our eternity remains secure.

The nation’s average life expectancy may continue to slide. But our lives do not have to fall forever. Because of the One who was lifted up on a cross, we can be lifted up from the grave. And that’s not an expectation that can be dashed. That’s real hope that lasts.