Retirement offers time to grow in spirituality By Fabvienen Taylor
JACKSON — For many working people, retirement conjures visions of a time free from work, a time to do what one wants, every day.
Advertisements bombard soon-to-be retired people with images of playing golf every day, of leisurely visiting foreign lands, of shopping, volunteering, spending more time with grandchildren, visiting museums, exploring new hobbies, and even working part-time.
“Retirement can be about all those things, but it can be so much more, ” Dr. Richard Johnson told a group of laity, religious and clergy attending the course, “Redefining Retirement as a Spiritual Journey.”
Dr. Johnson touched on those images, but emphasized retirement as more than a financial transition, more than a psychological transition, more than an emotional transition.
“It is a spiritual transition,” he said. “It is time given to you by the Holy Spirit to ask yourself, to discern for yourself — What is Christ asking of me now? What role can I play in the community? How can I be Jesus Christ in a clearer, different way?”
About 40 people from area parishes and staff from St. Dominic Hospital attended the workshop, “Redefining Retirement as a Spiritual Journey.”
It was held from Monday to Wednesday, Nov. 9-11, at the hospital.
A second course, “The Dynamics of Care-giving,” was held Wednesday afternoon to Friday. Thirty people attended that workshop.
St. Peter Parish’s Senior Adult Ministry hosted the seminar free-of-charge for two people from each parish in Deanery I.
Dr. Johnson is a gerontological counselor and has done extensive research on maturing adult faith formation and spiritual gerontology. The Johnson Institute for Senior Adult Ministry offers a professional certificate in spiritual gerontology.
Dr. Johnson is the author of 20 books. For more information see www.senioradultministry.com.
Prior to attending the workshop, participants filled out a Christian Retirement Challenge Profile (CRCP), which was summarized and then given back to each participant at the workshop.
The profile results give a comprehensive picture of each person’s overall level of ability to find personal success in retirement.
In his research, Dr. Johnson has identified 15 retirement challenges which he said “can predict to what degree a person is likely to find faith, peace, and continued personal growth in retirement.”
Some of the challenges are career reorientation, care-giving responsibilities, personal flexibility, spiritual luster and stewardship/service.
“As a practicing Catholic you have been practicing your faith all these years,” he said. “What retirement is asking, at this phase of life, is for you to celebrate your faith.”
He said retirement is a time for growth. “That means there is more study to be done,” he said.
“We must ask ourselves — How does faith enter into my daily life? What does my faith say to me about my relationships?
“What does my faith say to me about the media? What does it say to me about my relationship with my spouse, about my money, my government, my family?”
Those are questions workshop participant Vince Graef faced over several years.
A Jackson St. Therese parishioner, Graef is now employed as a chaplain at St. Dominic.
Retired three times, Graef left his last job after business dropped off.
“When I wasn’t working I felt like I was floundering,” he said. “I began to feel as if I wasn’t necessary. I was having a real problem with my self image and lost some self esteem.”
As a member of St. Dominic’s pastoral services group, Graef was asked to attend the workshop.
“I was assigned to come to this but it has benefitted me personally,” he said. “The many things I have learned here have helped me to see why I was feeling the way I was.”
Camden Sacred Heart parishioner Bertha McGruder, a licensed practical nurse (LPN), was asked by her parish to attend the workshop.
“I do look forward to retiring and I like older people, our elders,” she said. “They are an inspiration to me and I am looking forward to working with them in my parish.”
Vicksburg St. Paul parishioners Shirley Farish and Vera Brown plan on working with other parishioners who take Communion to persons in nursing homes and those home-bound.
“Also I am in the process of redefining my life so I came to this to help myself spiritually too,” said Farish.
After the first day at the workshop, Brenda McCaffrey, a nursing supervisor at St. Dominic’s, shared with her daughter what she had learned.
Her daughter has multiple sclerosis and had to stop working several years ago.
“She told me she wished she could have attended a program like this when she had to quit working,” said McCaffrey.
“At that time her life was so full of work and all of a sudden she couldn’t work any more. She didn’t know who she was any more. She is a strong Christian and has been all of her adult life, so I feel that is what has brought her through it all,” she said.
McCaffrey is looking forward to retiring a year and a half from now. She signed up for the workshop to help prepare herself for that coming change in her life.
“I have noticed how my thought processes are changing a little bit and I know I want to do more in the spiritual realm when I retire,” she said.
Retirement is a time for people to study their spirituality more in depth, said Dr. Johnson.
“We need to look at ourselves. We need to read more spiritual types of books.”
He urged people to investigate books and other materials offered by Catholic publishers and the Catholic press.
Retirement is a new endeavor that offers people an exciting new role, a new adventure in life, he said.
“It hurts me very deeply to see some of our Catholic folk just retire and watch television all day.
“There is nothing wrong with television, with a lot things. But too much of it is going to be harmful for you,” Dr. Johnson said.
“So many good people do that with their lives. And that is very unfortunate. Jesus is expecting more of us than that.”
In an interview with Mississippi Catholic, diocesan newspaper, Dr. Johnson said having a mix of people at the workshop was “refreshing. I usually have all religious sisters, or all priests or all lay people.
“I enjoyed the free interchange between clergy, lay people and religious. The priests were delightful and there seemed to be a familiarity, a deep respect between them for what was going on here,” he said.
