Who was Methuselah?
The name Methuselah is a biblical reference from the book of Genesis as the name of the person with the oldest recorded lifespan. According to the Hebrew/Christian texts, Methuselah lived to an unbelievable age of 969 years. Methuselah was the son of Enoch and the grandfather of Noah. Extra-biblical lore states that he died on the 11th of Cheshvan of the year 1656 which was 7 days before the beginning of the Great Flood.It is not the intent of this article to defend the accuracy or possibility of such a claim but my favorite defense of it's accuracy states that before the Great Flood, our atmosphere was a thick and vaporous mist which protected the surface of the earth from the harmful UV rays of the sun and therefore enabled such amazing longevity!
Regardless of your belief in the accuracy of such claims, the name Methuselah has become synonymous with human longevity.
With our own modern trend towards increased longevity, I find it interesting to think what it would be like to live for hundreds of years. Of course, our first and foremost concern would be our quality of life. If however, we could remain healthy and mobile, imagine what we could learn. Imagine the ability to have time do all those things we've wanted to do and to see the places we'd only dreamed of seeing. New adventures, relationships and time to learn of new cultures and peoples all resulting in accumulated wisdom. To consider these possibilities, I can only take it a step further and wonder how such opportunities would influence the kind of person we'd become.
While the Methuselah Fitness Project is primarily concerned with our diet and fitness, a lifestyle of increased longevity will require some guidelines to will help us to keep on track and moving forward in a positive manner. I'd like to suggest therefore the following "Methuselah's Creed"
