At least twice (and probably more like ten times) in the last few weeks I have been asked about my retirement. Most notably, when I had my annual consultation with our district superintendent, Rev. Edgar Brady, we discussed my plans, whether I wanted to continue for another year at Christ Church, and my thoughts about my eventual retirement. I assured him, as I have for the last six years, that Patti and I are happy at Christ Church and, if Christ Church is happy for us to stay, then we are in no hurry to retire. After that, we spent some time discussing how long it might be until we decided to make such a change. I had a few thoughts on that subject, but no specific plans, and he noted that he was turning seventy and thought that he still had a few good years left, especially since he will begin a new pastoral appointment in July.

The second most notable instance was during my semi-annual meeting with our financial advisor. In the middle of our discussion, I mentioned something general about retirement, possibly as we discussed our search for a house in which to live. It was at that point that he looked at me and pointedly asked, “Why haven’t you retired yet?” My answer was the same as the one I gave to Edgar, “I’m not finished yet.”

But these questions got me to thinking. I’m not ready to retire because I have some things that I’d like to do first. I want to finish my doctoral thesis, we need to find a house that we like that will accommodate all the stuff we want to do at home for the next couple of decades, and I have a few more things that I’d like to accomplish at Christ Church. But those things led me down a train of thought that eventually led me to think more generally about how we are finishing. Regardless of age, when we transition from one thing to another, we finish the first thing before we can get started on the next one. We wind down our projects, we wrap up details, and we prepare for the next chapter. Our inability to do these things is one reason that being suddenly laid off or fired can be so painful, and the same is true for divorce, or the death of a family member.

And that train of thought started me thinking about how all of us are managing our transition from this life to the next. We know that it is coming, though for some of us that transition will be sooner than for others. But how are we preparing for it? If we were planning a camping trip, as our scouts are preparing for summer camp, we would have a list of things that need to be done. Food must be purchased, tents mended, fees collected, service hours recorded, wood collected, physical forms signed by family doctors and turned in, rank advancement done, clothing packed, practice swimming for the camp swim test, and so on.

But as we consider our eventual transition from this life into the next, even if that day is quite far off, we should consider how we are preparing for it. One day we will stand before the throne of God on the day of judgement, and we might imagine being asked “What have you done with my son, Jesus?” How will we answer? How have we prepared? What have we done? With what things have we filled our lives?

I have things that I want to do before I retire, and more things that I want to do afterwards. And just as our scouts are preparing for summer camp, all of us have some time to prepare for our eventual transition from this life into the next. It is my hope that when that day comes, we will be able to say, as Paul did, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). Likewise, we hope that upon our arrival, we might hear God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant! (Matthew 25:21)

But until that day comes, we should consider how we spend our time, and with what things we fill our lives.

How are you finishing?