About Retirement

I’ve been thinking about the advantages of old age and retirement lately, and here is a sample of what's turning up.

1. Retirement should never become decline-ment. 

Oh, yes, I know we often scoff at the idea of retirement. Retirement can have its negative side, but look at the positive. If we’re not still eager to preserve our youthful activities too much we might find that there’s a whole new world of mental and spiritual activity to discover. Many of us oldsters are happily spending more time seeking out answers to life. I call this kind of retirement exercise, tough work and a great occupation! 

2. Retirement can be a growing time.

Growing old need not be seen as growing worse if we can see it as a time of discovery. How many of us have trapped ourselves in brick walls of personal opinion and common belief? Well, there’s a real pleasure in getting out a mallet and slamming those walls down! The first Beatitude lauds those who are “poor in spirit.” The reward for this is the kingdom of heaven!

3. Retirement can be a time of restoring our faith.

Why give up and give in to the so-called inevitable accompaniments to old age? If we see life as heaven on earth we can explore it "through the valley of of the shadow of death," not as an end called death.

4. Retirement can be a time of putting our good intentions to work.

Somewhere we’ve heard that “the road to hell is paved with the bones of good intentions.” That need not be our fate!

5. Retirement can be joyous and invigorating. 

Knowing the omnipresence of good instead of engaging in unkind criticism, and idle observation of the oddities and infirmities of ourselves and others, gives us ample work.  Someone has said, “Negative criticism is the public acknowledgment of one’s inability to see the Christ in man.” A friend of mine used to say, “What you see is what you be.”

6. Retirement is a time of working to end evil. 

So, I think that’s not possible? So I don’t even try? Well, then. at least I can acknowledge that that’s what God is doing and follow suit. It’s work that invigorates us spiritually and mentally.

7. Retirement is a time to accept Eternity.

We may think what we like about this but I choose to believe that, having accepted the gift of life, it cannot be taken away, not even by our consent. So, we’d better make the best of it,  For this we need divine help. In all our years we can choose to be ageless. An astronomer once told me that we’ve all been alive as long as life began. He said. “We’re made out of star dust, literally.” I say we’re made out of God, Spirit. By the way, how old is God? How does God keep from aging? It says in the Bible that God rests. He/She must know how to rest in action. It doesn’t say that God quits! We oldsters should not be quitters! 

Note to my readers: Please forgive me when I get on my soap box. You who know me know I’m mainly preaching to myself. Something in the morning air is to blame for it.