Years ago, I had this friend, Jim, who was a pastor nearing retirement age. He was so excited about retiring. For months beforehand, he was regaling people about how wonderful it would be to sleep in and do nothing – to read some books and just relax after working so hard his whole career. But I told him, “Jim, pastors don’t retire. Some folks are great at it, but for whatever reason, pastors just don’t seem to do it: not really.”
With a flash and a grin, he shot back, “Oh, I’m going to retire – you’ll see.”
So, Jim retired and I didn’t see him for a little while. When I did saw him again, months after his retirement, I said, “Hey, Jim! How’s retirement going?”
And he said to me, “Elana, did you know that there are a lot of people – especially pastors– who are really bad at retiring? They find it so stressful and overwhelming. So, I made calls all over the presbytery and put together a brand new support group, which I’m leading, so they can sort through all their difficulties and really settle into retirement.” The man who was planning to relax and do nothing, basically made a second career of trying to help other people relax and do nothing.