T. GAMBLE: Eating fried food and banking on genetics

I read with sadness where Tom Petty died at the age of 66 from a heart attack. I saw a clip of him playing a concert a few months ago and he did not look too good. Come to think of it, I saw him live in concert in 1983 in Washington, D.C., and he didn’t look too good then either.

Poor Tom, he was not the best-looking guy around, but when you are a rock ‘n’ roll king, you don’t have to look too good. See Mick Jagger as a perfect example.

I’m not as old as Tom Petty, but I’m close enough that it made me think a little bit. You know, the old, “Gosh, that could be me if I don’t watch it.” One day you’re playing a rock concert and the next you just fall over dead.

It’s enough to almost make one begin an exercise regime or, God forbid, begin to eat quiche and Brussels sprouts. Luckily, such fanciful thoughts soon fade away and I enter back into my perpetual state of self-denial.

Yes, the perpetual state of self-denial. Eating fried food every day will probably cause some folks to have an early heart attack, but not me. Gaining a few extra pounds could be bad, but not on me. Failure to exercise might cause all kinds of issues, but not me.

Heck, we all know somebody or other who did nothing to take care of themselves and lived to be 90. Of course, I know a lot more who ended up like poor Tom, gone too soon.

Now, I really don’t know anything about Tom’s lifestyle and there are a million reasons why one guy lives to be 65 and another makes it to 90. I’d guess the biggest reason is heredity. I’m banking on that one pretty hard, since I have quite a few long-living relatives.

My wife has a 104-year-old grandmother and I’m thinking I may be able to siphon off some of those genes, too.

I would note Hugh Hefner just died and he was 91. I’ll let each person draw their own conclusion about why that happened.

Yep, life is funny without rhyme or reason for how long we live. The Lord may bless one and not another. Being evil or good does not determine such a thing. Idi Amin lived in exile, rich as could be, and died of old age at about 80, yet Martin Luther King Jr. did not make it to 40. Go figure.

King famously said, “Like anybody, I would like to live-a long life; longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will …”

God doesn’t promise us long life for a life well lived, nor does he promise to shorten the life of an evil man. I’m not sure why, but I do know he made promises after we die, which is all that really matters.

These days we now live in are difficult times, full of evil people intent on harming innocent people. Senseless murders, whether in large numbers in Las Vegas, or day by day on the streets of Chicago. The Bible says for each man, it is appointed once that he must die.

I’m not real crazy about that arrangement, but as far as I can tell that’s one thing in the Bible I don’t think anyone can dispute, believer or unbeliever.

We see such violence and hatred and dissension on TV and the news, it is easy to think all the world around us is that way. Stop a second, pause and think. It’s not. Good always conquers evil so long as good people don’t let evil conquer their good.

I may be here 30 more years or only a day, but either way it is all right. I refuse to be intimidated or live in fear of the fools and evil doers. So, tonight I’ll say a pray for the folks in Vegas and Chicago, and tomorrow continue to know the evildoers are the exception, not the rule.

Email columnist T. Gamble at [email protected].