So, what are your plans?

Pastor Julianne D Smith, retired

So…. what are your plans for retirement?

This was a question I was not expecting. I guess I should have. People like to know these things. I wasn’t ready to answer that question. I was too busy wrapping up my tasks at work. I had too many things to do before I retired to think about what was next.

This much I knew. For the first six months (more or less) I wasn’t doing anything “churchy.” That is, I wasn’t going to be available for supply preaching, interim work, or any other pastor-ish work. I was going to sleep for a week. I was going to have my eyes checked out for cataracts. I was going to go to Tanzania. I need to sort through my books, my mother’s stuff that I still hadn’t touched since she died, and read a stack of books for fun. I want to be available for my granddaughter’s orchestra concerts and other events of her life. I want to attend worship in the same congregation for more than two Sundays in a row. I want to be flexible – in body, mind, and spirit!

What happened was this: on the morning of day five of retirement I scheduled cataract surgeries for March. On the evening of day five I came down with an awful respiratory infection that tested negative for COVID. I suspect it was RSV. For the next two weeks I felt awful. Antibiotics helped but the coughing! I thought I’d never recover.

I did recover. And those two weeks reminded me that I didn’t have to do everything in the first month. Or the first six months. In fact, even though my bishop and my colleague were promising me 15 congregations (the number grew every time it was mentioned) to serve as pastor of record, and pulpit supplies for every Sunday, I could say, “no.” Still, I will be doing something, eventually. I’ve heard old ministers don’t retire; they just go out to “pastor.” Serving in our bishop’s office has given me some ideas.

So…. What are my plans? I don’t know. I don’t think it’s necessary that I have it all in place. At the same time, I know I need to have a routine. A former parishioner told me about his co-worker who had retired and just sat on the porch all day. He died in six months. My parishioner said when he retired, he swore he’d keep busy. And he did, for 20 more years. That’s something to keep in mind.

The ELCA has “retirement” coaches. I think I’ll find one to help me sort out a few things. And then, who knows?