FROM THE PASTOR
Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?
More than 30 years ago Judy and I escaped to New Orleans for a week’s vacation. It was Easter Sunday. The car was packed and as soon as the second service ended, we were on the road. We had a wonderful time (except for the ticket I got in a small-town speed trap) and agreed to someday return to New Orleans.
Well, a lot of “somedays” have passed and we are at the point in life where we are more acutely aware that there is a limit to the number of “somedays” available to any of us. If there is something important to be done, now is the time to do it. So, this was the month to return to New Orleans. Again, we had a wonderful time, perhaps even better than our first vacation. We took our time getting there, driving south on the Great River Road. On advice of friends, we stayed in an incredibly welcoming hotel in the heart of the French Quarter, walking distance from almost everything we wanted to see. We hit many of the best-known tourist destinations and ate too well at various NOLA restaurants. We are so glad to have returned to New Orleans. To have checked this destination off our “bucket list.”
We all have many things on our “someday” list which become increasingly important as we pass through middle age into our senior years. There are questions to consider. Where are the places to which we want to travel? Have we structured our financial life so that we will be able to live well in retirement? Where do we want to live when the yard and garden are no longer a delight and home maintenance has become a burden? Have we completed the legal documents which will provide care for our survivors and reflect our values and faith commitment through the way in which our resources are allocated? Have we designated and communicated with people we trust to care for us physically and financially when we need assistance? How do we wish to celebrate our life in the context of our community of faith? Have we communicated our wishes to our pastors, family, and friends?
These are questions for seniors, for “pre-seniors,” and for all of us who seek to fully live out our baptism as we move through the stages of life. These questions, and others that each of us brings, are the basis for our conversation in the current Adult Forum series, “Baptized We Live: Questions for Older Adults.” Resource people in law, medicine, senior housing, and liturgical planning will provide information and lead conversation around the “someday” questions we want to consider now. Please join us in the conference room at 9:00 a.m. for these conversations.
Pastor John E. Schumacher, BCC
Interim Visitation Pastor
