Offerings Off the Wall
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS?
When folks pass through the receiving line on Sunday, they ask me about my plans for retirement. "What are you planning to do?" I confess I have had all sorts of harebrained ideas, from almost buying a house in Costa Rica to planning a run for City Council. The Costa Rica house was cute, but I am not a surfer and with my history, it's not likely that I would be taking long walks on the beach in the hot sun. I do love the ocean, but that shore was surfing shore, not swimming shore. I realized I would have to lash a line to one of the palm trees high up on the shore, and attach it to my waste in order to pull myself out of that surf. Dick Clapp suggested I run for City Council, thinking I would be a good addition to Cathedral City's city council, but running for city council in a city where one is virtually unknown probably isn't the best use of one's resources and friends. I am such an unknown resident, I couldn't even get appointed to the Commission for Parks and Public Events, and there were only 2 applicants. At one time I thought about going to work in Guatemala. I went so far as to apply for the Director position of the Clinica Salud Y Paz on route 15, in Camanchaj, Guatemala. I didn't get it.
When it was determined by the Bishop that I would be retiring in 2018, there was the slightest hint from the Annual Conference that it would be nice if I decided to move away, and live someplace else, thus giving whoever the new pastor was an uncluttered path for pastoring the church. After a short visit to Tampa Bay in February of 2017, I gave some thought to moving to Florida when I retired, even looking at homes for sale in the Seminole area, near an aunt, a first cousin, a past sister-in-law, and an old high-school roommate. I thought living on the Gulf would be the perfect place. It is in February, but then I pondered hurricanes, humidity, and alligators.
I remember when my ministry at the First Christian Church in Hemet ended, people asked me if I was going to move back to the San Fernando Valley from whence I had come. But although I lived in Reseda for 11 years, served a church there, and worked at the same hospital for a decade, it was no more my home than Claremont, where I attended seminary, or Tucson, Arizona where I became a Christian and received my call to the ministry, or Popayan, Colombia where I taught nursing to vocational nursing students as a Peace Corps Volunteer, or Lawrence, Massachusetts where I worked for some months before joining the Peace Corps, or New York City where I studied nursing, or Poultney, Vermont, where I earned my AA in pre-nursing or West Newbury, Massachusetts the town my parents moved to when I was 16 years old.
In 1998, Hemet was home for the time being, the place where I had established my residence and friendships. I would find work and stay until the next thing came along. The next thing began in stages seven years later, and in 2007 I landed here in the desert. We had no idea I would be here for eleven years, but here is where I have established my residence and friendships. After living in a place for over a decade, packing up and moving elsewhere takes thought, decisiveness, a reason, time, effort, and planning. I am having a tough enough time clearing out my office.
Often people who are retiring decide to move closer to children and grandchildren they can spoil-rotten. But that isn't leaving or moving away so much as it is moving toward a renewed connection with family. Having never married or had children, there are no grandchildren calling out to have me close.
So my answer to the question, "What are your plans?" is "I haven't got the faintest idea." The next thing will make itself known, I am pretty sure of that. What you must know is this: on July first, even if I am living here in the desert, I am no longer your pastor. It is unethical for me to agree to marry you or bury you without the express invitation and/or permission of your new pastor. I will no longer be your spiritual counselor or guide and I won't be worshiping with you. However, I will always hold you ever so close in my heart, praying that your ministry in this community continues to flourish and grow. You are the best thing that has happened to me in my ministerial career!!
With buckets of love and endless blessings,
Rev. Amanda
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