I was suffering from what a minister-friend called, “intestinal uncertainty” but it was certain enough that I did what I almost never do – cancelled a nearby speaking engagement, and then cancelled an out-of-country trip. When I saw the doctor I told him, half in jest, “I need to retire one of these days” to which he replied, not in jest, “No, you don’t need to retire, but you do need to slow down.” Then he added a rather profound thought, “Knowing how much you travel and how many different restaurants where you eat, I’m not surprised you have this problem. I am surprised you don’t have it more often.” Robert Louis Stevenson said, “He who sows hurry reaps indigestion.” He got that right! So, when does one slow down? I thought retirement would do it, but as I said then, “I’m retiring from a position, not from a calling.” That calling has kept me rather busy. So, when does one slow-down from the calling? I don’t have an answer for that, but my doctor might. So my advice to my younger friends is do all you can, while you can, and when you can’t, don’t. Hopefully, someone will occasionally remind me of that.
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