| About people |
| Written by JACK HABERER, Outlook editor | ||
| Monday, 17 October 2011 17:24 | ||
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When the Outlook’s full-time associate editor Martha Skelton retired last January, we hired Mike Jennings to a half-time position, tasking him to take over most, but not all, of her duties.
One duty that fell to me was that of researching, compiling, fact-checking and editing the “About People” column. The task before me sounded as thrilling as driving in bumper-to-bumper traffic. The first time around, procrastination kicked in. I waited until the magazine was nearly complete before taking on the task. Finally I buckled down to the job, much of which entailed decoding and reformatting a list of retirements and deaths generated each month by Kris Valerius in the Office of the General Assembly. Like many of our readers, I’d regularly glanced through Martha’s compilations, looking for familiar names, mentally rehearsing a memory or two. But this new duty required me to give just as much attention to the unfamiliar leaders – lest I misspell a retiree’s name or misdate a colleague’s death. So I stared at my computer screen and dutifully typed away until suddenly and without warning, my eyes flooded with tears. I welled up with emotion — a mix of tenderness, sentimentality and anxiety. I felt like I was in the presence of the holy. “I’ve got to get this right,” I blurted out loud to my empty home office. “These people have spent a lifetime serving the Lord, and they deserve to have their story told accurately.” Then my imagination began to prompt questions. So who was this pastor who has now died at age 87? How many people have leaned into the prayers of this now-retired military chaplain? What was the congregation retirement party like for this 67-year-old? Did grateful couples thank her for helping save their marriages? Did folks rehearse how he was there waiting in the emergency room when they arrived? Did her son tell how she never missed his Little League games in spite of her unrelenting work schedule? Did he get skewered, Dean Martin style, in a royal roast? I found myself shaking in awe to think that my computer and I were typing in quick summary fashion legacies of ministry whose real stories deserved encyclopedic coverage. I felt a holy embarrassment and an overwhelming sense of humility to think that my ‘tedious’ task was really an offering of honor to servants of God, most of whom had finished well. Such reflections also prompted me to rehearse in my mind just why, for the past few years, we have been publishing an annual retirement issue of the Outlook. Not only could such an issue help advise those heading into life as a pensioner. Not only could it help connect retirees to lifestyle options, to services and to environments that could help them thrive — indeed, help them continue to serve God — in this new chapter of life. Not only could it help us all to reflect theologically on the whole concept, given that retirement was introduced originally by Moses when directing 50-year-old Levites to “retire from the duty of the service and serve no more” (see Num. 8:23-26). It also could provide a chance to think about those who have moved on to other places (a Florida beach condo, an Arizona mountain cabin, or wherever the grandkids live), if only to prompt us to whisper a prayer of thanks for ways they’ve contributed to our lives, and maybe even prod us to send a note of appreciation. This edition of the Outlook is being sent gratis to all non-subscribing retired ministers, spouses and survivors as our expression of thanks for all they’ve done to help the rest of us to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God. Then again, every edition of the Outlook — in addition to its news reporting on controversies, its columns contemplating everyday church life, its Bible study resources and its classified listings of new ministry opportunities — delivers, most of all, a biweekly report of the legacies of women and men who have poured heart and soul into serving our Lord and church. Please consider the “About People” column to be your personal invitation to give thanks to God for them. —JHH Your Responses (1)
William Chapman
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Hillsdale, N.J. Read your editorial of October 11 re. "about People." My reaction: YES!! Having wandered around through various presbyteries, etc., over the years, I am regularly amazed how this column affects me. It is a prose version of "For All the Saints," another way of expressing the communion of saints. Again, a fine example of what it means to be a Presbyterian. Thanks. |
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