Retirement #2

September 1, 2019

Every once in awhile something happens that is so out of the ordinary that one must simply stop and savor the moment. Today was such a day. I actually got to sit by my wife through the entire worship service this morning! I was very good; I didn’t wiggle, squirm, or even talk during the sermon—something that hasn’t happened in a long time! 

Today is the first Sunday of my second attempt at retirement. It feels a bit odd, but I think I’ll like it. People have asked me what I will do now to fill the time, to which I respond, “I have no idea.” There are lots of things I need to get done and a few things I’d like to try, like the fiddling class being offered by our New Horizons band. I’ve fiddled around with things for years; maybe taking a class in it will show me how to really do it, although if a college student is teaching it, I would bet I have a lot more experience than he (or she). I can fiddle around even though I don’t have a fiddle!

The problem with retiring from ministry is that the need for ministry never wanes, and if you’ve been doing it long enough, it never gets out of your blood. Any day of the week I can think of a dozen people who could use a visit and a prayer. I think of all the sermons I haven’t preached, the classes and lessons I haven’t taught, the learning and growing that still stretches out before me. Hopefully, retirement will free up a bit of time to dig into books that have set on my shelf for years, or to seriously practice my bass or bassoon or my Spanish, or to engage in the mission work in Cuba. All are possibilities, and God has blessed me so far with health enough to pursue any or all of these. I do suspect however, that my days as a hunky sex symbol may be behind me.