Retirement is Weird (or, The Plans That Perished) — a Steve Orr Lectionary reflection

I thought retirement would be different.

Like many, I had spent decades working and saving; investing in retirement plans, 401k’s, savings accounts; thinking about how I would use my time when I had all those hours to do as I pleased. I thought I would spend more time reading and writing, that I would finally get back to that long unfinished novel languishing at the back of my iPad.

But ... well ... retirement is weird.

A lot changes when we retire ... We stop working. We no longer earn our income. Monday’s are not the same. There’s no place we have to be on a weekday morning. We’re stunned to discover that most of our friends were workplace friends. Suddenly, it seems like just everybody has some plan to fill our time. Most of us have some cash flow, but it is almost always a lot less than before we retired.

Is it any wonder that many people, even when they have the resources to do so, don’t stay retired? Research indicates that at least 40% of workers over the age of 65 had already previously retired! I recently had a conversation with a person in their 80’s who, though well-off financially, told me, “I just can’t retire. I wouldn't know what to do with myself.”

I could provide a litany of things that retirement brings about, some of which highlight how wonderful it can be and some of which make it seem something to be avoided at all costs. But there is one thing about retirement that is universal for everyone who takes that step ... and it can be a stunner if you’re not prepared for it.

Everything just stops.

Work email just stops. All those projects you were a part of? Not another word. Your opinion is no longer sought. Your regular lunch mates? Going to lunch without you. Bad as that all is, it gets worse. That work you were championing? That process change you were seeking? That new approach to training the next generation of workers you were shaping? Stopped. And if it didn’t stop, it changed so significantly after you left, you might not even recognize it.

It’s almost like you were never there.

True, we need not retire to have this experience; anything that takes us out of our normal flow can cause it. Major health concern, fired from a job, forced relocation ... pick your poison. If you’ve ever experienced it, you can never forget it. And, it makes one of this week’s Lectionary passages a little clearer if you have. Psalm 146 is all about trusting in God. It recites all the good God does. But before it does so, it warns the reader: don’t put your faith in princes (and other mortals) because, “When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish.”

Retired or not, we need to place our faith in the one who is constant, the one who can be depended on to help in time of trouble, the one who (as the Psalm says): “executes justice for the oppressed ... gives food to the hungry ... sets the prisoners free ... opens the eyes of the blind ... lifts up those who are bowed down ... watches over the strangers ... upholds the orphan and the widow.”

That’s what God does. Most of this week’s scriptures are about what God does for those in need, but some are about what we should do. A good summary of what God wants of us can be found in this week’s selection from James: it’s like he’s preaching a sermon on how to fold Psalm 146 into our lives.

The world may have stopped for us —even though we are not princes, and even though we are still here— but we are called to continue ... by a God who never stops.

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There are many (many) articles about retirees returning to the workforce. This is a good example: https://www.aplaceformom.com/blog/reasons-retirees-are-going-back-to-work/

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 18 (23) (September 9, 2018)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=218

Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23
Psalm 125
Isaiah 35:4-7a
Psalm 146
James 2:1-10, (11-13), 14-17
Mark 7:24-37
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Join us Friday morning for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast at the Waco “Egg and I” restaurant. You should find us in the function room (down the outside, near the back); ask at the host stand if we’re not there. The hour starts at 8:00 and goes by quickly. But we take with us the fruits of reading the Bible, discussing, praying, laughing. It doesn’t stop just because the clock strikes 9:00.

Blessings,
Steve