“Our Next Career”

There’s a tendency as you get older to think you have accomplished all you’re going to accomplish…it’s all down hill from here… “sit back, relax, take a cruise…. reminisce about the good ole days.” Yet, a cursory look at many accomplished people will show that their greatest accomplishments happened during the later part of their life. 

• “Ray Kroc spent much of his career as a salesman of paper cups and milkshake machines. In 1954, when Kroc was in his early 50s, he began the McDonald’s empire. Within five years, there were 100 McDonald’s restaurants. The rest, of course, is McHistory.” 
• “At age 40 Harland Sanders was running a simple service station in Kentucky. He then opened a single restaurant across the street to better serve hungry travelers. On the menu, of course, was fried chicken … he started franchising his KFC chicken restaurants when he was 62.”
• In 1941 Dwight Eisenhower was a 50 year old major in the army with no combat experience, his career stuck in the mud. In the next 25 years he would become the Supreme Allied Commander orchestrating the victory over Germany in WWII ….  and later President of the United States.

I was reading about St. Ephrem, a Doctor of the Church who died in 373. The article said “he did his most important work during the last 10 years of his life… from age 57 to 67. He refuted heretics, composed hymns, wrote canticles and commentaries on scripture; the early Church Fathers praising their depth and ardor.” (Magnificat, 6-9-22) 

So I guess this BLOG is directed primarily to those who are moving into the later stages of life. I would suggest it’s likely that God has some important things left for you to do… maybe the most important thing(s) you’ve ever done. Hmmmmmm.  It probably won’t be as a professional football player or astronaut, but you never know.  It may be as a devoted grandfather or mentor to younger men. Perhaps the amateur woodworking skills can develop into something interesting. Maybe you should plan to do some writing…gee, perhaps even a BLOG….wow, that’s a crazy thought.

I think all of us can spend special time with the Lord in prayer, and out of that time we should get some direction. It may come in a gentle whisper like it came for Elijah in 1Kings 19. So, let’s keep our eyes open for that next call from the Lord. It can be very exciting. Let’s even be willing to take a few chances. Get ideas from your spouse or friends. Who knows, the next Ray Kroc or Colonel Sanders, or even St. Ephrem may be waiting in the wings. And that would be good news for all of us.