As I recently entered the Bountiful Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, an elderly married couple emerged. They were well into their 80s. Chatting warmly with each other, they both scooted walkers along to steady themselves. It was still early in the day, so they had gotten up with the chickens to attend the temple. They were dressed up to go somewhere special. They were visibly cheerful and having a great time; they clearly enjoyed being together.

They had been volunteering in the temple. Think about it: Where else besides a temple, church, synagogue or mosque service can barely mobile people of advanced age go to work, to be welcome contributors instead of patients, objects to be helped, or problems to be dealt with?

This couple and the many just like them have something to get out of bed for when they go to worship. They want to contribute. They want to feel useful and needed. They want to serve, to do something meaningful. They could just stay in bed and think about their aches and pains, about their limitations. But they choose to serve instead.

In worshiping, they meet and mingle with other people. The social connections they make broaden them and lift their spirits.

The main reason these people worship is to commune with God and pay him their devotions. Here they touch something holy. They promise God to be more obedient, less selfish, more loving, holier, more generous. There arent many places where octogenarians promise and strive to change, to improve, to do better. In this important sense, they are looking forward, not merely backward, as the elderly are often inclined to do. By their efforts and through the ceremonies they participate in, they emerge as better people. They feel Gods hand in their lives.

These people undoubtedly pray for their family a son or granddaughter who is ill, injured, dealing with mental illness, needing a job, suffering from addiction, going through a divorce or suffering financial difficulties. Thus, thousands of people pray for those who need Gods blessings. Just ask someone who has been the beneficiary of that process they feel it.

Science has proven regular religious service adds six years to the average lifespan. Meaningful social connections strongly correlate with improved quality and length of life, and the same goes for engaging in serving others. Feeling connected to ancestors, descendants and to family generally is another silver bullet for improving quality and length of life. No government program can rival the mental and physical benefits that church and family offer all ages in experiencing personal connectedness and meaningful service.

Our current age demands that society acknowledge the uniqueness of each person and their experience and background. If that means that we honor the worth and uniqueness of each individual, who can argue against it? The ultimate goal is to respect each person as an entity, all being of equal dignity, with equal rights.

A culture of political correctness increasingly requires that each individual also be acknowledged by their gender, race, sexual orientation, personal pronoun choices and other characteristics and personal choices. Religious affiliation, spiritual devotion and faith-based service must also be counted among the defining characteristics that make a person who he or she is; few things both guide and characterize a person more markedly.

Many on the political left and the media seem almost uniformly to see religion in negative terms. Admittedly, churches are struggling with hot button issues like same-sex marriage, Catholic sex abuse scandals and how to interface with the hyperpolarized political realm. But pure religion has always been and will always be the most positive and powerful force in making bad men good and good men better. Just ask my happy octogenarian fellow worshipers.

Greg Bell is the former lieutenant governor of Utah and the current president and CEO of the Utah Hospital Association.

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Religions unseen effects on the elderly ... and everyone else - Deseret News