I have grown to love the 2007 movie, “The Bucket List,” starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. It’s about two terminally ill old men on a road trip with a list of things to do before they “kick the bucket.”
In one of my very
favorite scenes, they are both sitting on one of the pyramids in Egypt. Morgan
Freeman’s character says to Jack Nicholson’s character, “You know the ancient
Egyptians had a beautiful belief about death. When their souls got to the entrance
to heaven…the gods asked them two questions. Their answer determined whether
they were admitted or not. “Have you found joy in your life?” “Has your life
brought joy to others?”
Because I retired seven
years ago, it was serendipitous that I should stumble onto it. It occurred to
me that it raised a ton of questions for reflection for my retirement. Those
two questions may have been two of the most important questions facing me as I
sought to create a second life with the experiences I have accumulated. “Have
you found joy in your life?” “Has your life brought joy to others?”
Many people my
age, going into retirement, speak of retirement as a time to pamper themselves and
finally be able to do whatever they want to do! Our culture teaches us that
retirement is a time for self-indulgence. Move to Florida! Sleep in! Putter
around the garden or workshop! Play golf every day! Hang out at McDonald’s and
drink coffee till noon with other old men! God spare me! Thomas Merton was
right when he said, “The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little.”
My main goal in
retirement is first of all to challenge the temptation, from my own mind and
from the mouths of others, to think too small. I didn’t want to quit being a
priest, but I wanted to be a priest in a new way. I certainly wanted to do more
than keep doing what I have always done, but less of it. I certainly didn’t
want a permanent vacation. I have spent my whole life as a priest dreaming
bigger than what was considered wise. Some of those dreams did not materialize,
but more than I could have imagined, have materialized! I wanted my retirement
to be a springboard to adventure, not a hammock for my lazy side to lie in.
We have been
conditioned to think small, to be happy and thankful for what we have and to
expect less from life. It is very convenient to think like that, because if you
do, you don’t have to do anything. It lets you out of a whole lot of work.
What does it mean
to have joy in your life? The ancient Egyptians may have had their test, but
Jesus has a similar test. He asks us today in the gospel, “Were you able to
find joy in fully loving God by fully caring for yourself and your neighbor?
Jesus tells us in the Gospel of John that he came “to bring life and life to
the fullest.” God created us out of love and all he wants from us is for us to
milk the life he has given us for all its worth! He wants a passionate
commitment to God, self and neighbor. He wants our happiness most of all! St.
Irenaeus is famous for saying “The glory of God is man fully alive.” By that he
meant that the best way to love God fully is to do the most with the lives God
has given us.
Jesus’ own Parable
of the Talents says as much. We are all given talents to invest, some of us
more and some less, but all of us are given talents to invest. To bury them and
not invest them is a bigger sin than taking a risk and failing.
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