tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2397377665790588556.post6603215199746899412..comments2022-12-13T13:51:09.590+00:00Comments on Wool gathering of a northern dean: A Retirement is AnnouncedAquiloniushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15098649175728796819noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2397377665790588556.post-87472177149400964402015-03-22T12:39:07.530+00:002015-03-22T12:39:07.530+00:00Thank you for these kind and generous comments. Thank you for these kind and generous comments. Aquiloniushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15098649175728796819noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2397377665790588556.post-47065220756503011192015-03-18T11:02:26.376+00:002015-03-18T11:02:26.376+00:00Thank you, Michael, for all you have given in Durh...Thank you, Michael, for all you have given in Durham with your wise, scholarly and humane leadership, which has made the Christian faith credible for so many. Please continue to blog (and to write generally) because the Church of England is going to need your wisdom more than ever in the years ahead. Simon Rnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2397377665790588556.post-49105057674827848592015-03-16T07:01:56.070+00:002015-03-16T07:01:56.070+00:00Retirement is all that it's cracked up to be. ...Retirement is all that it's cracked up to be. I retired with joy in 2009. Aged 60, the Army decided that it had no further use for me, and I had concluded that I was no longer enjoying what I was doing, having done it for 43 years of my adult life, from age 17.<br /><br />I had prepared people for my departure well in advance (I had little choice in the matter) and did exactly what you're doing. Took the last three months as leave, so that I had time to adjust, while nominally still on the payroll. That three months allowed me to attend training for ministry in a role with my parish, and freed me to work in roles that I hadn't really had the time for before retirement.<br /><br />Now, six years later, I am finally having been through the hoops of discernment, embarking on a three year Licensed Lay Ministry Course - so far so good, and it's something to thank God for every day.<br /><br />My spouse elected to continue working - she is younger than I, and this works well. I'm now the house husband doing domestic stuff I hadn't ever before done, while she is able to enjoy our leisure time together without thinking housework or washing etc.<br /><br />Mundane things, but they do make a difference. I seem able to contribute more to my community than I did when I lived and worked away from our home for long periods, and being finally settled gives you some space to breathe and to get to know the many people you neglected throughout a busy, mobile working life.<br /><br />I pray that your retirement will be a fruitful and productive that you hope for and that the release from a busy life of ministry, will provide opportunities which will continue to enlighten the lives of others for years to come.UKViewerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18114944341930758335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2397377665790588556.post-91132084420005695832015-03-15T20:31:40.571+00:002015-03-15T20:31:40.571+00:00Many thanks for the warmest of welcomes that you g...Many thanks for the warmest of welcomes that you gave to my choir when we came to Durham to sing in the cathedral last August. May you and your wife enjoy a long, happy and fruitful retirement.Father Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04902961006821419938noreply@blogger.com