Reevaluating life's purpose
I have been a “regular citizen” now for six months, having retired from full-time ministry (45 years) on Sept. 30.
I have been asked a number of times, “Are you bored yet?” The answer always is, “No, I have plenty to do to occupy my time.” And I do. You know that old saying, “I’ve stayed so busy since retiring that I don’t know how I ever had time to work.”
But after I retired and became a “regular citizen,” I did start asking myself, “What am I meant to do? Who am I meant to be? What is my life’s purpose now that I am no longer a full-time minister?”
When I was in full-time ministry, I pretty much knew what my purpose was — preparing weekly sermons, prayers and liturgy that hopefully connected with people’s lives; extending pastoral care to members, especially those who were ill, in the hospital, recovering, or advancing in years; and facilitating religious community. Such were three primary aspects of my former sense of purpose.
But with that sense of purpose no longer in place, what is my purpose now? As already noted, I have a host of interests and family obligations to keep me busy every week. But interests and obligations do not a life’s purpose constitute.
While visiting with our daughter’s family back in the fall, our son-in-law, Todd, asked me if I had had difficulty transitioning from ministry and a sense of calling to ministry to a life without ministry. For, you see, for several years Todd was a full-time youth minister for a large United Methodist Church. And he admitted to me that he had struggled somewhat with transitioning from full-time ministry to non-ministry work, still feeling an obligation to ministry in some way.
So, I shared with him and our daughter that I had been pondering that very question and had come up with an answer; an answer I would like to share with you today.
As I reflected, meditated, read, and pondered, I concluded that now my life’s purpose can be summed up in one short phrase – to be a blessing to others each day in whatever way that I can.
But first, some biblical background. Being a blessing to others is a solid biblical principle that reaches all the way back to Abraham, father of the three major monotheistic religions of the world. “I will bless you,” the text records that God said to Abraham, “and you will be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2). Through Abraham and Sarah and the faith they embodied that would spread across the whole earth, they would, indeed, become a blessing to the whole world.
The idea is reinforced in the later Hebrew prophets like Isaiah — Israel would “be a blessing on the earth” Isaiah proclaimed (Isaiah 19:24). And then the injunction became a foundation in Christianity, as the author of 1 Peter reminded his readers: “be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble ... repay evil with blessing” (1 Peter 3:8,9). Although I can’t find an instance when Jesus explicitly instructed his followers to be a blessing to others (actually using the word “blessing,” that is), the overall message of many of his teachings — do good, be compassionate, give, be merciful, and so on — might be summed up by saying “bless others, even as you have been blessed.”
And so, now I am striving to fulfill a life’s purpose of being a blessing to family and friends and anyone else I might encounter on a daily basis. Some of the ways I strive to do that include:
Preparing breakfast and coffee and helping my wife get out the door on time each morning so she can go to her life’s purpose of being a blessing at Methodist Medical Center, where she is chaplain.
Preparing two positive, spiritual meditations accompanied by a photo of Nature’s beauty each week that hopefully will bless readers and brighten their day.
Sending "thinking of you" cards in the mail to let family and friends know I am thinking about them and praying for them.
Telephoning people to ask how they are doing and to let them know they are not forgotten.
Helping take care of and loving our children and grandchildren.
Going to check on my aging parents and doing what I can to help meet their emotional and physical needs.
Being courteous and complimentary to people I encounter when I shop or talk with someone on the phone about medical issues, appointments, and so on.
Seeking to bring joy and blessing through the wood crafts, books, and nature photographs that I produce.
For each of these ways and more, the principle which serves as a unifying “umbrella” for all of them is blessing — seeking to be a blessing in whatever I do. Such is the resolution that I have arrived at to define my new life’s purpose.
But the good news is, ministers or retired ministers don’t have a monopoly on seeking to be a blessing in their weekly activities. Everyone can reframe their thinking about life and their life’s overarching purpose so as to consciously live each day with the intent of being a blessing to others.
A wonderful story about Henri Nouwen illustrates the point. Nouwen was a Dutch Catholic priest, professor, prolific writer, and beloved theologian. His interests were rooted primarily in psychology, pastoral ministry, spirituality, social justice issues, and community. For nearly two decades, Nouwen taught at such prestigious institutions as Notre Dame, Yale University, and Harvard. But Nouwen spent the last 10 years of his life in a community in Ontario, Canada, that extended love to and cared for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. I’ve always found that fact to be fascinating, inspiring, and quite moving — the idea that a great thinker and theologian with a fabulous mind found his greatest joy in caring for those who had intellectual disabilities.
As Nouwen said, “We are not called to save the world, solve all problems, and help all people. But we each have our own unique call, in our families, in our work, in our world.” And in another place he said, “God wants you to live for others and to live that presence well.”
We find our greatest fulfillment, another way of saying our life’s purpose, in giving ourselves to others, determining to be a daily blessing.
The Rev. Dr. Randy K. Hammer retired from full-time ministry after 45 years of service, most recently as pastor of the United Church, Chapel on the Hill, of Oak Ridge. His nature photographs and inspirational blog can be found at reflectivenaturalist.com.
This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Reevaluating life's purpose
