Defining "Retirement"
"My Parents Did It This Way..."
Many Boomers feel there is a definite difference between their retirement,
and that of their parent's retirement.
Dave's father, living
in the north, plays while he can until the early and lasting winter comes.
Then he stops
and waits.
Sue saw a lack of relationships in her parent's
retirement. There was bingo, golf, and an empty, meaningless life.
Denny says
retirement, in the traditional sense, means "to cease being productive
and 'play.'"
Sandra makes the observation that
the Builder's mindset of "work now; play later" is backfiring.
When they
finally get
to their retirement, they get sick, their health fails, and they
cannot do what they've waited their whole lives to do. They end
up feeling cheated.
Doris
and Jim saw it this way: "You are happy to get up, have
breakfast, read the newspaper, trim some flowers, have lunch, take
an afternoon
nap, eat dinner by four, and go to bed by eight. Their big excitement
is their
monthly bingo night. To put it simply, They really do not DO
anything.
Stan's father's
day
witnessed many people who stat on their front porch an waited. Retirement
became
the "waiting room to die."
Larry saw
a generation retire with very little debt.
The Response
Dave, remembering his father's cold winters, doesn't want
to get bored, he wants to be able to do things. It doesn't seem right to
waist another whole part of one's life.
Arnold, a retired teacher, gave the traditional retirement
a try, and has found something missing: A purpose and the chance to make
a difference.
Sue wants to have a fulfilling retirement. "you can't
just play golf and have fun; it's not just about all that."
Denny sees a third of his life still yet to live. He also
sees a culture which responds to the traditional retirement as a lessening
of social status and respect.
Sandra sees the concept of "stopping and resting" as a loss.
There is still so much more life to be had, especially as the Boomers are
retiring younger and healthier.
Jim was frank. "I'm restless. Really, really restless. I'm
in a retirement community where everything is provided, I bowl once a week,
golf twice a week, and have lots of friends. There's a million things to
do, and yet, I'm restless!"
Stan initially enjoyed having so much free time, and there
was always 'something to do.' But, he eventually found he needed something
challenging.
Larry refused to just "lie down and rot."
The Result
Becky has gone in search of somewhere to contribute to society,
something that will give her purpose.
Arnold returned to teaching, using the church's facilities
to teach a bell choir, private music tutoring, and a band class for home-schooled
children. He is his own boss, and he's loving it.
Phyllis is about to retire. She looks
forward to reading, reading and reading. Boredom is not an option because
there are too many books to be read. She also looks forward to becoming
more involved with her family.
Dave does not consider himself retired, but "just doin'
something else; something I enjoy." He lives in Florida where he can enjoy
his retirement three hundred and sixty-five days of the year. He highly
suggests retirement, but even more so, he suggests doing something significant with that
retirement.
Sue is being active and getting involved in her community.
Despite her expectations, she is finding a multitude of relationships that
are deep and personal, and she is also finding that she has less time than
ever before. But it is time invested in things she cares about.
Denny has no expectations to retire in the traditional sense
of the term. He plans to spend the next season of his life serving as an
interim pastor for churches in transition. The boomers are living life
and enjoying it along the way. As such, that is what he plans to continue
doing. He is a pastor, and intends to continue being a pastor.
Sandra sees retirement as "a time to do things as I want
to do them." For the most part, she already does that. She is a freelance
writer. While they may find ways to reduce their load with the retirement
funds she and her husband are saving up, they plan to continue doing what
they're doing, because it is purposeful, and because they enjoy it.
Jim and Doris are ready to find part-time jobs, but are
doing so because they just like doing it. As they see it, Boomers are going
to be involved in the birth of a generation that will embrace the Second
Life. They will retire, start a part-time business, run for public office,
or start clubs arond common interests. They are not going to go quietly
into the sunset.
Becky sees retirement as having the freedom to make personal
decisions about what one will do with life. She recommends it, but wants
all to remember not to abandon the church because of it.
Stan, observes that people are becoming more active and
have many interests. They do not come into retirement thinking, "My life
is over now." He is "flunking retirement" because he is staying involved
in rewarding, stimulating, and positive experiences. If it ever ceases
to be the case, he is fully able to leave. It is the expectation of the
retired boomer to have the flexibility to say "no" at any point. Commitment
has its definite limit for the retired Boomer.
A Biblical Perspective
Denny has been studying the dynamics of the impending flood of retiring Baby
Boomers. He starts by simply stating: It is not biblical. The idea of 'retirement'
comes from Del Webb's concept of leisure living as proposed through his retirement
communities. This lifestyle was sold in order to profit from house sales.
Our culture bought it, "hook, line, and sinker."
The biblical response is found through the influence of Rick Warren's, The
Purpose Driven Life, proposing small groups and a change in perspective
of retired life,
to something purposeful; doing what they have always wanted and have been designed
to do. We know that retirement is a concept that will be around for a while.
However, we also know that we can at least do something different with it.
We can make it an active season to do something purposeful.
The church's response to the builder mindset should challenge the culture
to go against the builder retirement mindset, and ask them not just to play,
but
also to give of themselves. This may be approached by using different semantic
terms: Work, for instance, is what a person does for a living. What a retiree
will not do, is "work." Serving, on the other hand, is something done
for others. It is something fulfilling, rewarding, and renewing. Denny illustrates, "Nobody
is given awards for what they keep; it is given for what is given away.” Appropriately, “The
greatest among you must be a servant." (Matthew 23:11 NLT)