Climbing Down the Ladder

From a teacher's and pastor's point-of-view, Linden M. Wenger shares his views on retirement. His folksy reflections and personal observations express his own thorough enjoyment of life as a retired person.

-- Rejoice! You may finally begin climbing down the ladder of success.

-- Growing older is normal. The only fountain of youth lives within ourselves--in the will and wisdom to renew our own spirits and to take care of our own bodies.

-- Make peace with death, make peace with God, make peace with the world, and make peace with yourself.

-- One of the first shocks of retirement hits when we find ourselves out of touch with our familiar world.

-- As children, my brother and I occasionally plunged into the cold, spring-fed stream on our father's farm. So we must prepare for "the plunge" into retirement.

-- A host of voluntary service projects await retirees. Hats off to volunteerism!

-- Coping with loneliness--it is my own feeling that personal faith in Jesus Christ is our greatest bulwark against any and all the forces that batter us in life.

-- Be sure to make a will and provide other necessary instructions for your final wishes.

-- Let us dispense with the cult of youth worship. Enjoyment of life does not fade with the bloom of youth.

He graduated from Eastern Mennonite College with a degree in Bible and received his B.D. and Th.M. from Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia. He did advanced studies at Princeton and with New York University Land of the Bible Workshop in Israel.
In 1941 he married Esther Huber of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The Wengers have three grown children. After Linden was ordained to the ministry in 1945, they spent 10 years in the West Virginia hills where he pastored several churches.

Beginning in 1955, he spent 23 years as Associate Professor of Bible and Philosophy at Eastern Mennonite College and Seminary while continuing in the work of church administration. Ordained bishop in 1959, Wenger was overseer of the Northern District of Virginia Conference until his retirement in 1985. He held various offices in the Virginia Conference and in the Old Mennonite General Conference until his retirement. Since retirement he has chaired the Virginia Conference Older Adults Ministries Committee. He also contributes to various Mennonite Church periodicals.