Madam, – In an age of planned development, when retirement is an accepted fact of life in most occupations, isn’t it strange how few people plan their retirement? They simply drift into it. Isn’t it time schools woke up to this and educated people for retirement as well as for earning a living?
Even in a utilitarian society, surely gradual retirement should be completely acceptable? Surely it is nonsense to pretend that a man can put in a full day’s work on the last day of his 64th year and the following day be incapable of any work. And if there is no objection to greater pay for longer service, why should shorter hours for longer service be unacceptable? Such a change might go a long way towards ridding us of our job complexes. It might help us too, to put back in its place the real purpose of our lives, from which there is no retirement.
We are, as Christians, pilgrims on a journey. And for us, death is the end of the road. This journey encompasses all the periods of our lives. And if there is any high point on this journey, surely it is toward the end, because it is the homecoming. For those who believe in the Resurrection, the period of their retirement combines the satisfaction of a long road travelled with the expectation of a better life to come. – Yours, etc,