Perhaps retirement marks a beginning, not an end

Earlier this year I made the “big announcement” to my congregation. After 18 years of ministry here, I will become what the Presbyterian Church (USA) calls “honorably retired.” I gave lots of notice, since I will not be officially retired until the end of June 2014.

Some of you readers will have some idea what such a decision feels like. On the one hand, I will miss the busyness, the weekly deadlines, the meetings and the full schedule. On the other hand, I will not miss the busyness, the weekly deadlines, the meetings and the full schedule. I look forward to retirement as an opportunity to do the many things I love — writing, traveling, speaking here and there, and spending more time with my two daughters and four grandsons who live in Pennsylvania. We plan to stay in Dallas — a city we have come to love and now call home.

In preparation for this, I participated in a seminar in California about 18 months ago, titled “Ending Well — Finishing Strong.” One of the first things we did was make a list of all the things we look forward to doing in retirement. After we made our lists (like “work out every morning”) the leader asked, “So why aren’t you doing those things now?”

Good question.

I also learned that some are now calling retirement “the third age,” which I found interesting. When Social Security began, the average life expectancy was 67 years old. This meant that Social Security was designed to fill in the short time you had left. No wonder we are now facing the challenge of affording it! With increased life expectancies today, it is entirely possible that we could spend a third of our life after we “retire.” The first age is our years of growing up and being educated. The second age is our working, career years. The third age, then, can possibly be another third of your life, and you have to figure out what to do with it. Thus, the theme of the third age is, once again, vocation — that is calling. What is my calling now?

I find this rather fascinating to think about. What is God calling me to do in this next stage of my life? How will I know? All I know is that, in every other time of life, such discernment has come through prayer, study, thought and the good counsel of friends. But I particularly like author Fred Buechner’s observation that our calling is found “where your deep delight meets the world’s need.”

That’s my hope as I prepare for my third age — to take one thing that causes me deep delight, and link it to a great and worthy need. I’ll keep you posted.