Encore!
Called Back for More
I’ve attended many concerts where the audience. with enthusiastic cheers and applause, calls the band back to the stage for an encore. Though usually a planned part of the concert (you can tell if the house lights stay turned off), the rush of excitement when the band returns for another song is felt by everyone. Each of us might know the thrill of being called back for more, for an encore. We can also provide that joy to others.
Note about the image. This is a picture of a campfire at Mystery Acres, one of many my husband has built so our grandsons can roast marshmallows for s’mores. This one happens to be a “memorial burning” of marketing materials from the doctoral program from my previous position.
My Mysterious Mind
This was my first week as Coordinator of Dissertation Research for the Department of Education at Evangel University. My contract started on August 12th, meaning I was officially retired for eleven days, from August 1st through August 11th. On the morning of my first contract day, I journeyed to my new office, with many thoughts racing around a tangled web of highways in my mysterious mind about this move back into a new position at age 62. I have many friends and colleagues, close to my age, who have also retired recently. Most of them are “just” retiring. My decision to continue working at a new job seems strange in comparison to them.
But a comment by a former student about this decision has put my mind at ease. She said this next job is my encore. I am being called back to offer more of myself and my expertise. I love this perspective, especially since the last few years I have been “backstage” with my strongest set of professional experiences. I may wonder what I am doing starting a new job, but I was more perplexed by what I have been doing in recent years. Why was someone with almost a quarter of a century of experience working in doctoral education teaching psychology to undergraduates? I embraced the work and found purpose and joy in it, but I felt as though my best performances were behind me. This was quite painful.
Now I have been called back to the stage, so to speak, back to doctoral education, in a new role at a different university using my expertise and experience again. I feel renewed and valued. Having something to offer and not being able to do so is a strange aching, now quieted.
Which brings me to thinking about other people who might be called to give an encore performance. A very dear woman in my life is parenting, under legal guardianship, her two great-grandchildren, both preschoolers. She told me how this is her fourth round of parenting, the first was to her little brother, ten years younger than her, then her own children, then a couple of grandchildren, and now two great grandchildren. Wow!
I’ve also been thinking about a friend who once served as church president. After a multiple-year break, he’s chairman of the elders now, a role he also previously held and never planned to do again. And, I think about my dad, who never stopped farming, but bought a new tractor at age 91 for his encore years of farming. I respect his perspective of continuing to do something he’s better at than he has ever been. Why should he stop?
It's funny that, during my first day at my new job, the woman who created my position so she could retire was also at the office. She’s accepted a part-time job doing something that matters to her but was vexed with questions about her sanity in doing so. One of her best friends retired and is “just” retired. Was it crazy to go back to work after retiring?
No, it’s not crazy at all. Some people retire and stay that way. Some people keep working without retiring. Some retire and then go back to work. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to work and life. For me, an encore performance is what is best. What makes sense for you?
Message of Mystery Acres
Last year we donated an overnight stay at our property for a fundraising auction at our church. The couple who purchased the trip stayed at Mystery Acres last October, bringing several members of their family along. I took them on a walking tour through the woods, describing the Native American history and explaining the geologic significance of the site. Everyone had a wonderful time, despite a torrential rain in the afternoon, during which we huddled under the canopy of the motor home. They gathered interesting rocks, some round, others with fossils, and selected a few to take home.
This spring, at the annual fundraising auction, we donated another overnight stay. After some other bidders participated, the same couple purchased our donated trip. We haven’t worked out the details yet, but I suspect they will want to return this fall for a repeat performance, perhaps with less rain. They hope, as I have already learned, that Mystery Acres always provides new discoveries with every visit.
When our grandsons stay with us, they insist on camping. No matter the oppressive heat or uncomfortable cold, the forest is continually worthy of an encore performance for them. On every visit they also insist on having s’mores. Even when it’s 100 degrees, my husband is expected to build a campfire so we can roast marshmallows and squish them between graham crackers with chocolate. You see, like a great band called back to the stage for an encore, some experiences are worth repeating. When something is especially wonderful, we can’t help but cry for s’more.
The message of Mystery Acres is a voice calling for a repeat performance of something special. Though we know the future is never exactly like the past, we long for a repeated experience of a meaningful time. Toasted marshmallows with graham crackers and chocolate offer such encores. Another visit to the forest with friends is, also, never enough. Our hearts long for “s’more” of our favorite experiences.
Ancient Mystery’s Voice
“Moses was 80 and Aaron was 83 when they spoke to Pharaoh.” (See Exodus 7:7)
The famous release of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt was described in the ancient book of Exodus. It was also made into one of my favorite movies, Cecille B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments.” I can still hear the music and picture some of the epic scenes, despite having not watched the movie for over a decade, if not longer. Chalton Heston supposedly was chosen for the lead role because of his resemblance to Michelangelo’s statue of Moses. He was 33 years old when he starred in the 1956 movie; his three-month-old son played the infant Moses in the film.
With costuming and makeup, Heston was “aged” for the part of the movie when he and Aaron are told by God to go to Egypt to demand the release of the Israelites. What I never caught from the movie was just how old Moses was when he was called into this big role. Moses was 80 and his co-leader, Aaron, was 83. Both were way past retirement age. But, as part of God’s masterful plan, all 80 previous years of Moses’ life were necessary for the role to which He was called, that of confronting Pharoah and obtaining the release of the people of Israel from slavery. And, when Moses asked for help, God gave him someone even older, his brother Aaron.
Anna Marie Robertson, who married Thomas Salmon Moses, began a serious career as a painter at the age of 78. She exhibited her work as Mrs. Moses but became known as “Grandma Moses.” Like the Moses of Exodus, she is an icon of late-life seasons of special purpose. A lifelong artist, she switched to painting because it was less painful for her arthritis. It was that change to painting which brought her the highest acclaim. Her encore, driven by arthritis, was her most well-known performance.
When is someone “too old” to do something new or important? Never. The only way to know if you are too old is to check for a pulse. If you still have one, you aren’t too old. That’s the message of Ancient Mystery’s voice. No matter your age, young or old, you can be called to contribute in a meaningful way. That possibility only stops when your heart does. God doesn’t waste the years behind you when He calls you into service today. He uses all of those years as preparation and can even make arthritis a path to an encore.
Living in Mystery
What does it mean to live in the mystery of being called back for an encore performance? First, it means checking your pulse to see if you have unfulfilled purpose. If you are still alive, there is something more you are supposed to do. Your life’s assignments only end when your life is over. Until then, listen for the call of going back for additional service.
Next, encore living means not comparing yourself to others. Some people retire and just retire. Some people keep on working. Some retire and start another job. So what? There’s a saying from the sales industry, “S.W., S.W., S.W.” It means “some will, some won’t, so what?” Some people will buy, some won’t, so what? Some of us will retire and just retire. Some won’t. So what? Some of us will keep working until we die. Some won’t. So what? Some of us will retire and start another job. Some won’t. So what?
Encore living means more than not comparing yourself to others about decisions regarding retirement. It applies to numerous differences in life decisions and possibilities. Some people get married. Some don’t. So what? Some people have children. Some don’t. So what? Each person’s path in life is unique to them. Period. I got married. I had children. I retired and took another job. Some people don’t do any of those things. So what? Your life is just that, yours. It belongs only to you and doesn’t make sense in comparison to anyone else’s life.
As an old mom to young parents, I want you to think about your parents for a moment. Being parents to you when you were little was probably a highlight of their entire lives. Now your parents, if they are still alive, live in an empty house. As parents, they live backstage until you call or visit with your children. Those contacts young parents make to their parents are invitations to return to the stage of parenting for a time of encore. No matter how independent you want to be as an adult, in the hearts of your parents, you are still their little children. You will understand when you reach the stage of life where you are backstage, and your children no longer live with you. When adult children call on their parents to get perspective on a parenting situation, those calls are bits of encore, with you inviting them to return to parenting’s center stage for a bit. Please remember to engage with your parents as you parent. It is a thrilling experience to be called back for an encore, even a small one.
The mystery of encore living involves reflecting on what parts of your expertise and experience might warrant a repeat performance. It’s no fun to live backstage with unused value. Listen for the voice of someone calling you to give you more of what you have to offer and be willing to risk returning to the stage. Encore living also means inviting others to the stage, offering them the thrill of being valued. Like Moses, both the original and Grandma Moses, some of the best performances are late in life.
Connecting with Mystery
Dear Lord of All Mystery, thank You for the backstage times, even though I feel less valued. Help me to recognize, and rejoice in, the encore times, when someone calls me back to center stage, even if for a moment, to offer my expertise to others. Show me the people I love who are backstage, in need of my inviting them back for more. Thank You for the example of Moses, who You called into His best performance at 80. Help me to look to You for the life You planned for us, resisting the distraction of comparing that plan to the lives of others. Amen.
Notes from Dr. Mac
If you want to do your own investigation of any of the scriptures I use, I suggest you go to Bible Gateway. This free online version of the Bible allows a search of words or phrases. Various translations can be selected from the old-time language of the King James version to the more modernized language of The Message.
You can find previous posts of my work at my ARCHIVE and organized compilations in the My Books section. You can also find Mystery’s Voice on Spotify.
I want to know what you’re thinking! You can email me at: Dear Dr. Mac or leave/send a message (see below). I love hearing from you!
Information about Charlton Heston and Grandma Moses was obtained from Wikipedia.
