If someone is still producing at the age of ninety-one, it raises questions about how is it possible and can others who are approaching longevity do likewise? Of course, one has to take into consideration physical strength , mental alertness and the urge to want to keep helping others if there is something worthwhile that could be published.

  It took several days of reflection until I thought of a possible answer to the request for an article on my ability to keep producing articles at the age of ninety-one.

  About 55 years ago as a young Jesuit seminarian, I had the unique association of the renowned Father Bernard Lonergan, S.J. Not only was he one of our professors of theology, but he frequently joined us for a walk in the seminary garden after supper. Through Father Lonergan I learned about the sub-conscious function of one’s brain. Not only do we solve problems by conscious attention to them, but there is a sub-conscious function of the brain that keeps searching for an answer even after we turn our conscious mind to something else.

  For example, one day Father Lonergan gave us a tip about preparing sermons as they were called back then. When you begin to prepare what you want to say, jot down the various points that come to mind  with no concern for the sequence or development of thought. Then put your notes aside and turn to something else, even to a night’s  sleep. The next day or whenever you tackle the preparing of the sermon, take out the notes. You will find that the jottings can then be understood as appropriate or not with the path for development fairly evident.

  I think the above description is an adequate account of what he wanted to teach us  about the sub-conscious as a problem function of one’s brain. I believe that using the sub-conscious function of the brain has kept me being productive these many years.

  I think that this informative about the possibility of remaining productive as age advances came to me from the sub-conscious in answer to the request to write about it from the editor of IgNation. The answer popped into my consciousness after several days of toying with the problem. It also led me to reflect on the many problems I encountered in producing a monthly magazine for over 500 issues with no reprints from previous issues.

I think that relying on the sub-conscious either explicitly or implicitly has kept me in a productive mode ever since I took to heart what Father Lonergan taught us about relying on the sub-conscious. With further personal study of his explanation on the solving of problems by each individual as described at length in his monumental “Insight” book, I was able to gain the self-assurance that each person  could reach satisfactory answers to questions of all kinds  without having to search for  the re-assurance of others.  In summary, each individual is capable of arriving at satisfactory answers if pursuit is  maintained of relevant questions.  And the good news is that every person has a sub-conscious function of the brain to use at any time or at whatever age as well as a personal brain that is capable of getting correct answers. I think that my productivity, for what it is worth, owes its existence to what I learned from the late Father Bernard Lonergan,S.J.