Do we HAVE to get older???

If there was no such thing as time, there would be no aging. Why do we have time? The answer, from a spiritual viewpoint, is that time, forces us to grow, to sift the wheat from the chaff in our lives, so that ultimately, both we and the cosmic forces hope, we do the important things in life (for a discussion see "The Course in Miracles"). Without time, we would perennially act as youth does, with the sense of invulnerability, with unlimited time to accomplish whatever we want. But with the clock ticking, we have to get to what is important. Or we will never get it done.

For some people, the most important thing is family life, sharing their children's lives, taking care of grandchildren. For others it is their relationships with friends and relatives. For others, it is enjoying the moment. For others it may be professional accomplishment. Or it may be a mixture of things, as it is for me. But without time, I am not sure we would converge on what is important. And even with time, some people fail to embrace that which is most important to them before they die.