So, this is what retirement looks like! The day began ordinarily enough: breakfast with my friend Willie, followed by the usual mentoring hour with Cameron (although "mentoring" is hardly an adequate word for the conversations and friendship we share). While we were talking this morning, I received a phone call telling me that my friend Rick, who had open heart surgery yesterday, had a stroke this morning. It wasn't too long afterwards that I got a call from our friend Kelly, who is on her way to Virginia to be with her mother who is dying from cancer, telling me that if I wanted to talk with her mother, now was the time. So I called, and we had a wonderful conversation about life, death, and faith in Christ. Jill had asked me over a year ago if I would officiate at her funeral when the time came, and of course, I said I would. That time may be fast approaching, so we talked about what that service will look like. One thing for sure: no one had better wear black! Beyond that, we'll proclaim the Gospel of resurrection life in the Christ in whom she recently has come to trust.
My conversation with Jill was followed by a phone call to another Willie, to talk and pray. He had asked me a couple years ago to be chaplain for his ministry, so a weekly phone call keeps me informed of his needs, and allows me to ask how well is his soul, a question we all need to hear regularly.
Finally, Linda and I had dinner tonight with some dear friends who are struggling with some family issues, and before another 48 hours passes, I'll be in prison for a weekend's ministry with a few dozen inmates. In the past nine months, I've been asked more times than I can remember how I like retirement. My standard answer is, "I don't know." It's OK; I'd hate to retire only to discover that it only made me suddenly irrelevant. I haven't even begun to figure out this retirement business, but I guess figuring things out isn't always what it's cracked up to be. Being available to Jesus Christ is. Tonight I am thankful that although I'm officially retired, God doesn't seem to be done with me yet.
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