Thirty years ago I took early retirement from school teaching. Last year I played for my last service after more than fifty years as a church organist. A few months ago I preached my final sermon as a Methodist lay preacher after fifty-six years. So what do I do now?

My penultimate sermon was on Candlemas, when the church remembers how the baby Jesus was taken to the temple by his parents. An old man was there who had been promised that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. He recognized that this baby was indeed the Messiah. He took him in his arms and blessed him and said, ‘Now, Lord, you have kept your promise; you may let your servant depart in peace.’ It was as if this was the last item on Simeon’s bucket list. There was nothing more for him to do. He was ready to die.

Anna, even older than I am, was in the temple on that occasion. She was inspired to go out and tell the good news of what she had seen to anyone who would listen to her.

I did not want to be like Simeon. No more teaching, no more organ playing, no more preaching. Like Anna, there must be something else I can do. Many of us feel that retirement is the opportunity to do something new, not sit back and do nothing.

So I decided I would write. This is my first attempt as a result of that decision.

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Readers who submit articles must agree to our terms of use. The content is the sole responsibility of the contributor and is unmoderated. But we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention. If you wish to complain about this article, contact us here