The View from "Retirement"

Andy Rooney died yesterday, November 4, just one month after delivering his 1,097^th televised commentary at the close of “60 Minutes.” Rooney so dreaded the day he had to end this run that he kept going until age 92. Even then, according to the Associated Press, “he said he wasn’t retiring. Writers never retire.” Sadly, his life in retirement was all too short.

Did retirement abet his demise? Probably not; old age and complications from surgery did. However, I am just two months into my own “retirement,” and now more than ever I can understand Rooney’s dislike of the term. The word “retirement” dates to the early 1500s when it simply meant to “withdraw to privacy,” as in one retiring for the night. However, with the increasing human life span and the advent of the industrial age, retirement became a stage in one’s work life when one withdrew from his/her occupation and labor. When I left the pastorate at the end of August, I entered into retirement. I wish I hadn’t called it that, however, because I was not retiring. I was simply changing ministry venues. Like writers, Christians don’t retire.

Furthermore, using the word “retirement” attached a stigma to me. The stigma is that due to advanced age and lack of employment, I am less valuable to society. This stigma is found even in the church, where Biblical truth about aging should dictate otherwise. Proverbs 16:31 (NIV) Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life. Proverbs 20:29 (NIV) The glory of young men is their strength, gray hair the splendor of the old. According to Scripture we should appreciate the vitality of the young AND the longevity of the old, especially when it is a long obedience in God’s direction. I was surprised just how quickly I was stigmatized. I imagine this was Rooney’s fear and the very reason he shunned the word “retirement.”

But there is a benefit to retirement that I did not anticipate. Despite my dimming eyesight, retirement has given me clarity about life and work. I am clear about the truth found in Galatians 6:7 (NIV) Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Just like God established the law of gravity, which cannot be denied, so he established this law of life: a man reaps what he sows. This holds true for the young and the old, the working and the retired. How important it is for me to grasp this. I do not possess a pension that would afford me a life of retired ease. I no longer hold a position for which people will give me a salary.  I must produce income for Diane and me to live out our days. The only way to do that is to sow that which will produce a harvest. Sowing produces reaping; production provides compensation Outflow results in income. This is an inviolable truth about life and economics. Rooney practiced this. He started his “60 Minutes” run on July 2, 1978 and continued throughout the years when most people do retire. He produced what people would buy. He said, "I obviously have a knack for getting on paper what a lot of people have thought and didn't realize they thought. And they say, `Hey, yeah!' And they like that." I must now do this. Retirement makes this clear. So my question is: What can I produce that will cause people to say, “Hey yeah!” When I figure that out, I won’t be retired. Neither will I be poor. Perhaps in our economy all of us need to ask this question.