Editorial August 19, 2019 Issue

Purposeful retiring—at any age

Diane Marrapodi

Whether we’re dreading retirement or approaching it with a heart full of cherished hopes and dreams, our concept of it is generally centered around one thing: removing ourselves from work. The word typically refers to leaving one’s job; its synonyms, however, include seclusion, loneliness, isolation, privacy, obscurity—a state which may leave something to be desired!

Thankfully, there is a broader sense of retirement that is worth considering. When the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, retreated from society for about three years following her discovery, she said it was “to ponder my mission, to search the Scriptures, to find the Science of Mind ... and reveal the great curative Principle,—Deity” (Retrospection and Introspection, pp. 24–25). She retired for the sole purpose of going up higher in her understanding of God, the divine Father-Mother of man. This type of retirement enabled her to withdraw—many times over—from cultural restrictions on women and from a myriad of beliefs that hold back humanity. Exploring the spiritual landscape, she grew in her understanding of the scriptural explanation of God as ever-present divine Love, and she saw that there is a law of Love in operation. This law of Love fully directs and governs man and the whole of creation.

This understanding did not occur all at once. It dawned in consciousness, was carefully and prayerfully considered, and was then applied with healing results: She repeatedly proved that the divine laws of God are always available and able to liberate the sinning, sick, and dying.

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Bible Lens—August 19–25, 2019