“Remembering Forward”
“Who do we want to be?”
On Being with Krista
Tippett
9/8/2011
“It's a poor sort of memory that only works
backwards,' says the White Queen to Alice.” ― Lewis Carroll, Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass
Brothers and sisters, each person, as
responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called
them.
1
Corinthians 7:24 New International Version (NIV)
“You are retired?” is the most
common question when I meet colleagues that I haven’t seen recently. It is a reasonable question since most of my
medical school colleagues are retired.
The better question for me is what does vocation look like at the end of
full-time practice?
There are a lot of books about
retirement and even some studies regarding surgeons. It seems to me that approaching the question
from a vocational perspective is different than most of the books and the
studies of physicians. A report from physician Dr. N. Thomas Connally gives us his personal and vocational account of retirement. (Select this report by clicking on it to see his video report.)
Vocational questions mandate
looking back at the “direction of your life” and naming the “call”. The good news is that “age” gives us the benefit of seeing our story and its themes.
Sometimes we find the answers and examples in other vocations. The CD “Paul Simon Songwriter” is a wonderful
summary of the vocation of Paul Simon.
We would not even think of asking the question, “When are you going to
retire?” He will always be “Paul Simon
Songwriter”.
For me the question of retirement
from being an actively practicing physician does not have vocational
meaning. The real question is not
retirement but vocation. What new
aspects of my vocation do I need to address?
What are the missing pieces that have yet to be mastered? I have come to believe that my “call” has not
changed even if full time practice stops.
Marvin
References
Luce EA. The ageing surgeon. [Review] Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery. 127(3):1376-83, 2011 Mar.
Agreed, Marv. This is a helpful reminder re vocation.
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