New Year, new beginnings!
It is not uncommon that some time between 35 and 55 there comes a point when the search for success gives way to the search for significance.
Whether climbing the corporate ladder has proved exhausting, fruitless, pointless or successful and rewarding; or the rung you were standing on has been cut from under you, as your position made you vulnerable to cost-cutting; or the premature death of friends or associates or your own health causing pain (‘God’s megaphone’, according to C. S. Lewis) – from time to time you may experience an increasing sense of your own mortality or loss of direction.
Any of the above (and more) may give you pause for introspection and lead to a nagging desire to find God’s purpose for the second half of your life: perhaps the desire to give back to the community in which you live and/or fulfilling your God-given potential in service to those around you or even far from your neighbourhood.
(I’ve found books such as Halftime and Retire Retirement helpful in this context.)
So, what will 2014 bring for you? A mission trip or service project; a Men’s Retreat; a course of theological study; or maybe joining or starting a small group: January or Lent is a good time for the latter.
Whatever 2014 brings, may God bless you and your new beginnings in 2014.
“Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. Psalm 39:4
