Four weeks retired yesterday; Ascension Day. Not sure I feel ascendant in retirement so far or that I have gone up with any kind of a mighty shout. It feels more as if my life has simply opened up so that I am now floating in something more like a lake than travelling busily between the vocational banks of being a parish priest—moving steadily with the current sometimes, drifting in quieter eddies at other times, and speeding through rapids that left me breathless every now and then. Banks give direction and velocity. There was always the next thing; the daily office, a call, a visit, Sunday worship approaching, a meeting.
In retirement the banks have receded and I drift facing one way and then the other; no particular destination or things that demand my attention. Oh, there is plenty to do, but apart from actual appointments, I can do them, or not, whenever. I like that. I like being able to go and visit children and grandchildren at a moment's notice. I like not having to be "on" and somewhere at a particular time every week. I enjoy the time to pray Morning Prayer with Jude at a leisurely pace. To read. To walk. To potter around the house and yard.
I'm a recently retired Anglican priest bobbing around in Lake Retirement and I'm okay.
No comments:
Post a Comment