In January of 2015 I announced my retirement from full-time parish ministry; after nearly 40 years I (and Wendy) had decided that it was good time to hang up the plastic “ring of confidence” and look for new and exciting adventures. Now I need add that the decision, for us, was not an easy one. The decision to retire involves risk… about finances, work, timing and family. We gave good measure to the risk a we talked often between ourselves and then extended this conversation to trusted friends and advisors and all of this, for us, was done in the context of seeking the good will of our Father God.
This transition for us, as with all our transitions as individuals and a couple, was some magical and mysterious commingling of a call to move from and a call to move on. A few people that I know, rather like the great patriarch Abraham, make a decision to move on with little sense of the place to which they go – BUT THESE ARE FEW! Sorry to ‘shout’ but this is so crucial.
We were fortunate, we had time to consider this transition. There was no external pressure (as far as I know anyway, no plot to force a resignation though doubtless a whimsical hope on the part of a few), there was no deadline (at 63 I feel very strong, capable, creative and even eager; I feel, to use maybe an inappropriate phrase for a priest, “at the top of my game”.
Time to consider transition enabled us to reflect on the messages from deep within our psyches, to share our dreams and listen to the responses of others and to pray and listen to God.
Crucial, oh so crucial, was the time spent with a counselor who just let me talk and as I talked I heard wisdom and insight that previously I had been too busy to hear.