The woman sitting down the bench from me that day told me she had just retired. "I don't know what to do all day. There's not enough to fill the hours", she lamented. An air of boredom, almost dejection, hovered over her. How very sad, I thought.
Although decades away from so-called retirement myself, something about this woman made me think. "I'm never going to give up an active life", I vowed. And I haven't.
With so much to learn and see and do in life, why shut ourselves down? As Arthur Fiedler, the long-time conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra once said in an interview, "He who rests, rots." And Albert Schweitzer wrote: "The great secret of success is to go through life as a man who never gets used up." Both these pieces of advice from men who led a very productive life in their later years have stayed with me.
After all, age is so mental, don't you think? I've known individuals who were quite young in years who already had an aspect about them of being out to pasture, so to speak. And conversely, those inspiring men and women who not only acted youthful; they looked that way. How could they not, given their lives of meaningful activity and usefulness to their communities and often the whole world?
When it comes to the subject of retirement, one finds divided feelings--some for, some vehemently against. To one person, retirement conveys the picture of long-awaited leisure; to another, the dread of enforced idleness, unhappiness, and loss of purpose.
But whether one's personal preference is for a rest or for continued activity, he could scarcely look forward to experiencing what the dictionary says about "retire", which is, in part, to "retreat", "recede", or "withdraw."
It isn't only the person who is retiring from business after decades of service who faces the lurking foe of uselessness. This challenge also cuts into that segment of society composed of younger people. For example, veterans back from current engagements in the military can feel retired even though they have yet to begin their life's work.
And housewives who have not spent one day within the walls of business can feel a haunting emptiness. They may find that wanting to be a conscientious wife and mother does not along bring the total fulfillment they were educated to expect. And this can sometimes almost make them feel retired against their will. Some think the solution is to go out and get a job. But then they learn that just as many office workers experience the same discontent. No, something more is needed.
When the feeling of "What am I really living for?" overtakes one, this may be an indication that he is actually ready to think about helping others, doing more good in the world, forgetting about self so much. And goodness knows, the opportunities that lie down this road are vast, for a person who is mentally and physically able to be up and doing.
I'm so grateful to have learned in Christian Science that there is one activity that needs us permanently: reflecting God. Our employment is to bear witness to unending Life and Love, and this activity never terminates. God's perfect idea, man, is never for a moment kept from reflecting God.
We read in the New Testament, "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
(II Timothy 2:15)
One need look no further than this to find all the activity and purpose he can handle. The pursuit of spiritual understanding is, of itself, a full-time activity and it leads to increased harmony, supply, and satisfaction in our everyday experience. While human activities sometimes fluctuate, dwindle, and come to a close, spiritual ones constantly expand. Gaining and practicing spiritual truths bring opportunities to acquire still more discernment--and ways to put it to use. Can one, for instance, run out of others to bless?
It isn't uncommon for advanced thinkers who have grasped the importance of making a difference to mankind -- especially those who are students of Christian Science and are learning of man's spiritual, ageless, eternal selfhood -- to continue in a useful, satisfying enterprise for years. And they often find a completely new line of endeavor. Their lives prove that it is never too late for one who understands that he has God-given talents that could be being put to good use for the welfare of others.
God's idea, man, simply must be useful, for he reflects the endless activity of God, infinite Mind. Suggestions that he isn't--or will not be--are mere false beliefs, and therefore can be disproven. Christ Jesus said, "I must be about my Father's business." (Luke 2:49) And so must you and I.
Those men and women I admire, benefactors of mankind all--the Leader of my Church, Mary Baker Eddy, being foremost among them--did not find a cushy chair and put their feet up (figuratively speaking, that is.)
So, here's to greater usefulness in the world--maintaining one's sense of wonder, adventure, excitement, expectancy. With the knowledge of who we are as God's very reflection, we can look forward to ever-expanding horizons, to satisfying activity that never ends.
