This summer, in fact, this coming week, marks the fifth anniversary of my retirement. Also, the fiftieth anniversary of my entry into full-time ministry. I’ve been thinking about retirement, its meaning and its purpose. Today I continue with Part 4 of a four-part series:

1. Retirement as a gift from God
2. Retirement as a gift for others
3. Retirement as a call to look forward
4. Retirement as a time to look back

(As I wrote in the first post, I should acknowledge that my retirement is pretty traditional. Five years ago, I quit receiving a paycheck, moved out of my office, and was no longer bound to a position description and job expectations. In those five years our retirement income has proven to be more than adequate, my health is good, and my energy level is high. We also moved 600 miles from the place we had called home to a new house and home we enjoy greatly. I understand that some people cannot afford to retire, and others enter retirement with regrets and worries of different sorts. So, as I think about retirement, most of the data comes from my own good experience and from conversations and observations from those around me. I will cite no studies and offer no footnotes.)

4. RETIREMENT AS A TIME TO LOOK BACK

Several of you have been kind enough to respond to these posts with reflections and insights from your own retirements. Thank you.

In the first post I said, “there is no place in retirement for clinging to the past or longing for the way things were.” Agreeing with my thought, a friend nevertheless recalled the joy and satisfaction he felt recently in cleaning out the attic and coming across various reminders of past events and accomplishments. “They brought back some wonderful memories of times and of people that I hadn’t thought about for many years,” he wrote.

There is a difference between nostalgia, an always unsatisfied hunger for something that never satisfies, and the memories that remind us of who we are.  Nostalgia seeks to return to the past. Good memories encourage us in the present and offer direction for the future.

Like my friend’s attic, my study is filled with reminders of things past, from California to Pennsylvania, North Philadelphia to Brazil and Guatemala, family and friends and the places we lived.

This coming Tuesday will be a day of quiet celebration for me. July 1 will mark 50 years since I began full-time ministry as the youth director at First Presbyterian Church in Santa Cruz, California. Five years since retirement from Langhorne Presbyterian Church in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. Becky and I became partners in this adventure nearly 48 years ago, and what an adventure it has been. Santa Cruz and Oakhurst, California. Lake Oswego, Oregon, Richmond, Virginia. Menominee, Michigan, and Beaver and Langhorne, Pennsylvania. And now Auburn, Indiana. Three wonderful children and children in-law, nine precious grandchildren, and scores of amazing friends.

And those adventures. I won’t bore you with the stories but to say that the God who was with us every cold stride up Heart Attack Hill on that cross-country ski trek to Ostrander Ski Hut in the back country of Yosemite National Park; the God who used our broken Portuguese and feeble attempts to care in Favela da Ventosa; the God who allowed me to preach from the pulpits in San Luca Toliman, Guatemala, and Ossian, Indiana – that God of wondrous love has been our help in ages past and is our hope for years to come.

Retirement? A gift from God. A gift for others. A call to look forward. A time to look back.

The local paper recently ran a piece which included some comments about the former pastor of a church in our community. His friends and family talked about how he had “retired” several years ago. Scare quotes in the original. Webster tells us that scare quotes are “quotation marks used to express especially skepticism or derision.”  Apparently, the former pastor’s friends and family are skeptical as to his actual retirement.

This summer will mark the fifth anniversary of my – no scare quotes – retirement. Also, the fiftieth anniversary of my entry into full-time ministry. I’ve been thinking about retirement, its meaning and its purpose. Today I continue with Part III of a four-part series:

1. Retirement as a gift from God
2. Retirement as a gift for others
3. Retirement as a call to look forward
4. Retirement as a time to look back

As I wrote in the first post, I should acknowledge that my retirement is pretty traditional. Five years ago, I quit receiving a paycheck, moved out of my office, and was no longer bound to a position description and job expectations. In those five years our retirement income has proven to be more than adequate, my health is good, and my energy level is high. We also moved 600 miles from the place we had called home to a new house and home we enjoy greatly. I understand that some people cannot afford to retire, and others enter retirement with regrets and worries of different sorts. So, as I think about retirement, most of the data comes from my own good experience and from conversations and observations from those around me. I will cite no studies and offer no footnotes.

III. RETIREMENT AS A CALL TO LOOK FORWARD

Becky and I are planning a trip to Brazil this fall. We are looking forward to it. We look forward to times with our children and grandchildren. We look forward to the next meeting of our small group Bible study and the next worship service at our church. I look forward to phone calls with friends far away and tomorrow morning’s run through the neighborhood. This is a wonderful season of retirement. As the psalmist writes, “The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.” Psalm 16:6. Continue reading →

The local paper recently ran a piece which included some comments about the former pastor of a church in our community. His friends and family talked about how he had “retired” several years ago. Scare quotes in the original. Webster tells us that scare quotes are “quotation marks used to express especially skepticism or derision.”  Apparently, the former pastor’s friends and family are skeptical as to his actual retirement.

This summer will mark the fifth anniversary of my – no scare quotes – retirement. Also, the fiftieth anniversary of my entry into full-time ministry. I’ve been thinking about retirement, its meaning and its purpose. Today I continue with Part II of a four-part series:

1. Retirement as a gift from God
2. Retirement as a gift for others
3. Retirement as a call to look forward
4. Retirement as a time to look back

As I wrote last week, I should add that my retirement is pretty traditional. Five years ago, I quit receiving a paycheck, moved out of my office, and was no longer bound to a position description and job expectations. In those five years our retirement income has proven to be more than adequate, my health is good, and my energy level is high. We also moved 600 miles from the place we had called home to a new house and home we enjoy greatly. I understand that some people cannot afford to retire, and others enter retirement with regrets and worries of different sorts. So, as I think about retirement, most of the data comes from my own good experience and from conversations and observations from those around me. I will cite no studies and offer no footnotes.

II. RETIREMENT AS A GIFT FOR OTHERS Continue reading →

The local paper recently ran a piece which included some comments about the former pastor of a church in our community. His friends and family talked about how he had “retired” several years ago. Scare quotes in the original. Webster tells us that scare quotes are “quotation marks used to express especially skepticism or derision.”  Apparently, the former pastor’s friends and family are skeptical as to his actual retirement.

This summer will mark the fifth anniversary of my – no scare quotes – retirement. Also, the fiftieth anniversary of my entry into full-time ministry. I’ve been thinking about retirement, its meaning and its purpose. If you will allow me a little self-indulgence, I plan on using the next four editions of Observations to reflect on retirement:

1. Retirement as a gift from God
2. Retirement as a gift for others
3. Retirement as a call to look forward
4. Retirement as a time to look back

Before I begin the first installment, I should add that my retirement is pretty traditional. Five years ago, I quit receiving a paycheck, moved out of my office, and was no longer bound to a position description and job expectations. In those five years our retirement income has proven to be more than adequate, my health is good, and my energy level is high. We also moved 600 miles from the place we had called home to a new house and home we enjoy greatly. I understand that some people cannot afford to retire, and others enter retirement with regrets and worries of different sorts. So, as I think about retirement, most of the data comes from my own good experience and from conversations and observations from those around me. I will cite no studies and offer no footnotes. Continue reading →

I spent some quality time in a medical waiting room earlier in the week. Routine visit and all is well, at least health-wise. But maybe all is not well in other ways. Placed prominently for all to see was the sign in the photo above:

Please treat our staff with respect.
Your words matter. Your behavior matters.
The safety of our patients and our team matters.
Thank you.

I don’t miss the year-old copies of Good Housekeeping, Sports Illustrated, and Road & Track that used to be a part of every waiting room, but this was something new and sad to see. I am assuming a reason, an incident or repeated incidents, that prompted the staff at the clinic to place the sign prominently in their waiting room. Unkind words spoken to the staff, the safety of patients and team members threatened. Wait, this is small-town America.

It has been sixty years since we were reminded that the times they are a-changin’. Of course, times are always changing, but maybe particularly so in the past sixty years.  And lest I find myself criticizing what I don’t understand, I should quickly add that I am among those who have gained much from the changes that have been far beyond my command. What a wonderful life! But what gain is there in having to be reminded to behave in the clinic’s waiting room? Continue reading →