65 Practical Principles for Primordial People 

August 1, 2024 was my 65^th birthday. Since I tend to write robust (long) posts, and since I love to aliterate, I jokingly thought of naming today’s post,

65 Practical Principles for Primordial People!

Instead, I’ll share a few “off the top of my head” musings as I finally reach adulthood!

I’m Thankful to Be Alive at 65 

Life is fleeting.

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that” (James 4:13-15).

I don’t take living to 65 for granted. My father passed away when he was just 53. In the past decade, four of my extended family members passed away at or before age 65.

When people complain about getting old, I always think, “Well, there are two options. You keep getting older, or you die.”

I’m thankful to be alive.

I’m Thankful to Be Able to Enjoy Life Together with Shirley 

On the afternoon of June 4, 2021, Shirley suffered a life-threatening stroke. The ER neurologist told me, “the next 72 hours are critical for survival.”

When Shirley did survive, no less than five neurologists cautioned us that Shirley would likely never walk again.

By God’s grace and kindness, this past weekend Shirley and I spent the morning swimming at Siesta Key Beach. And yesterday, for my birthday, we spent the morning at a museum in Fort Myers, and then enjoyed a delicious birthday lunch of ribs and pie.

I’m thankful that Shirley and I are alive and enjoying life together.

I’m Thankful to Be Able to Enjoy Retirement 

In the Christian world, there are varying opinions/convictions about retirement. At 65, here are a few of my musings about retirement.

1. You can work for God’s glory; you can retire for God’s glory. 

Some Christians, especially some pastors and seminary professors, seem to try to shame and guilt people who retire.

“Christians don’t retire! We burn out for Jesus! We work until we drop dead!”

Paul says,

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).

You can work for your own glory. You can retire for your own glory.

You can work just for the treasures of this world. You can retire just for the pleasures of this world.

You can work and retire for God’s glory. You can serve God and others in work and in retirement.

2. Not everyone has the ability to retire from paid work.

Everyone’s life situation is different. I understand that there are people who would love to retire from paid work, but they do not have the funds to do so. I understand that there are some, who by the time they can retire, do not have the health to enjoy retirement. The “Golden Years” become the “Difficult Years.”

Shirley and I did not plan to retire when we did. We retired “early” as a necessary response to Shirley’s stroke recovery process.

We’re thankful that we have the investment income and the passive income that allowed us to retire early. We’re thankful that we are able to enjoy our retirement years. We don’t want to take for granted our ability to do so.

3. We love the freedom and flexibility of retirement.

If you know Shirley and I very well, then you know that we are organized people. We had been “scheduled” people. We’re still pretty organized, but we’re not very scheduled. It’s so fun to go to bed at night (at any time we want!) and not have to set a clock to get up early. For decades, we both got up at 5 AM. We’re still early risers, but not 5 AM! And no alarm clock.

We love the freedom and flexibility retirement gives us to minister to others. Last week a missionary reached out to us. In response, we scheduled a Zoom call. Even with the multiple time zone differences, Shirley and I could work with the missionary’s schedule and offer a time for a Zoom soul care meeting.

I love the freedom and flexibility retirement gives me to provide pro bono soul care to pastors, counselors, educators, missionaries, and other “full-time vocational Christian workers.” I have zero problems with people charging for counseling. However, I personally love having the time and resources to counsel Christian leaders for free.

We love the freedom and flexibility retirement gives us to connect with and build relationships with others. Just in the few months we’ve been retired in Florida, we’ve connected a bunch of times with extended family members here in Florida. We’ve connected several times with friends from our old church who live down here. We’ve hosted couples in our home for meals and for games. We’ve hosted family and friends in our home in our guest suite (come down and visit—we’re having a pool installed!). We’ve gone out to eat often with friends. This past week, Shirley enjoyed a lunch with two dozen women from our community; I enjoyed a breakfast with a dozen men from our community.

We love the freedom and flexibility retirement gives us to serve as lay ministers in a local church.

I love the freedom and flexibility retirement gives me to read, research, and write. Reading, researching, and writing are “a little taste of heaven” for me.

We love the freedom and flexibility retirement gives us to minister to our adult children and to our grandchildren. We’re able to be a financial help, a practical help, a relational help. Plus, they have a Florida home near the beach to visit!

4. Retirement allows us to pass the torch to the next generation.

Psalm 78 has been called The Next Generation (TNG) Psalm. It’s all about passing on the torch of faith and ministry to the next generation.

I fear that sometimes when “older” Christian leaders refuse to retire, it can “block” younger leaders from developing their gifts. I wonder sometimes if part of the heart motivation for not retiring from paid work is the fear of irrelevancy, of being invisible, of not being upfront, of not being noticed, of not being needed.

Retirement from paid work/ministry does not mean that you retire from loving and serving the Lord and others. It does mean that you love and serve the Lord and others in different ways. It does mean that you open up doors of opportunity for the next generation of Christian leaders to step into and to step up.

And, it means that you could—behind the scenes—minister to and mentor the next generation.

On My 65^th Birthday: 3 Things I’m Thankful for and 4 Thoughts About Retirement 

In just over 1,000 words, and without sharing 65 Practical Principles for Primordial People, I’ve shared 3 things I’m thankful for, and 4 thoughts about retirement. Nothing profound. But hopefully something helpful for you.

It’s been a good birthday.

It’s been, by Christ’s grace, a good life!