What does a retired person do? Does he/she eat regularly, have enough money, spend all the Social Security foolishly and leave some for the kids, or on and on and on?

Well, Bunky, if you rise in the morning and your name is not in the obits, you can sit on the porch and watch the cars go by for 10 or 15 minutes, eat the bowl of prunes – regularly of course – "chuckle, chuckle."

I was saving enough money for a small sailboat. I was going to trailer the boat down to Florida, sail naked along the coast and yell at the beachgoers. Most likely, Julie would clobber me and send me to the great beyond.

Retirement for some is not the same for everyone. I remember a colleague who said to me, "John, I don't think I can ever retire. My job gives me meaning. I have a title and recognition as well as a certain amount of status. If I step down, I'll be just another guy walking down the street. My job is who I am."

I will never forget a longtime employee of J.C. Penney who left after 30 years of working in the same department. He bought all the merchandise and knew every item by stock number, rate of sale, mark-up and description. Each day after work, he would stop by a local bar on the way to the bus and buy one beer – no more – and then head on home. His department was eventually found to be out-dated and he was asked to retire. He came back to the store a couple of months later and found that it had been replaced with a more profitable shoe department. He left without a word.

Two days later, we found out that he had committed suicide. No note and no explanation, but we all know why. 

The Bible doesn't say much about retirement or old age, with the exception of the folks who lived for a very long time. We have to assume that old age was simply accepted, the aged were taken care of and everyone else just worked to keep the family in food, clothing and shelter. Biblical life was brutal, compartmentalized and times of celebration and rest were few and far between.

Remarkably, we are in a new world where people live longer, are healthier, with opportunities younger generations would only have dreamed of. 

Retired persons are not shipped off to centers named Shady Acres, Home on the Range or Dew Drop Inn, but sought after by businesses, can learn foreign languages, take art and music and volunteer their remarkable skills to help others. For them, they never look back at what was, but look forward to what comes next.

So, do not retire to a porch swing, couch or recliner unless you have a death wish.

Most importantly, thank Almighty God for the chance to experience a whole new life out there and be prepared to wake every day with a smile and the knowledge that you have something to share with a world in need.

That is what a retired person does.

Thanks, God!