One of the world's greatest manufacturers of automobiles puts in the hands of each owner a book of instructions. In a prominent place in this book, is printed in boldfaced type the following impressive warning:

"More motors have been ruined by racing while idle than have ever been worn out in actual driving under load."

In this respect, men are much like motors.

You have heard people say:

"I have given the world long years of faithful service. Now the world owes me a little life of leisure. I have earned the right to retire. I claim my reward."

Is this the sensible point of view? A man is designed to operate under load. Remove the load and he fails to function. One sees this demonstrated repeatedly. Often one hears that some grand old man has relinquished the burden to younger shoulders. He intends to busy himself with minor activities, or perhaps to travel. The next thing one hears is that he has set forth upon his last journey.

Stay On The Job If You Want To Stay On Earth

Retirement seems to have two malignant reactions. First: Accustomed by long years to a certain regimen, the body cannot successfully readjust itself to new modes of life, and perishes in the attempt. Second: When no longer claimed by outside affairs, the mind turns inward upon itself, with lethal consequences.

So one wonders whether retirement is a goal or a - sentence! Certainly until adequate statistics have been collected and the whole subject has been explored scientifically, no one can afford to contemplate this step lightly. A physician who has had unusual opportunities to observe men in business, tells me that retirement is a distinct shock to the system and attended by profound physiological and psychological reactions. One of my associates who is active in church work has examined the records. He advises me that they show a marked tendency toward rapid decline among clergymen who have been superannuated.

We have seen many a good man round out his period of service. We have seen him reach for retirement as a reward, - only to receive his final reward. Superstition, if you like, but I am not ambitious to throw off the load and run idle. It is very possible that the wages of retirement is death.

To brighten these rather gloomy ponderings, shall we dismiss the topic by recalling the familiar but still serviceable story of the weeping ancient? A wayfarer, so runs the comedy, came upon an exceedingly ancient man weeding a garden. He was old beyond all description, aged to excess; and as he weeded, he wept. Alike amazed at his advanced years and puzzled at his tears, the wayfarer ventured:

"Venerable sir, why do you weep?"

Still continuing his weeding, the ancient made answer:

"Please, mister, because this morning before I went to work my pop gave me a licking."

"Your pop!" gasped the wayfarer, "Licked you! And what for?"

The ancient wiped a dimming eye with the corner of his flowing beard.

"Because," he sniffed, "I wouldn't help grandad with the chores."

No thought of retirement here!

Premature Retirement

There are two types of retirement that seem especially to be deplored. There is first the premature retirement. We can excuse the gradual retreat of the aged, but what apology can be found for the man who retires from business at the full height of his strength and abilities? Having made his pile, he quits the game. This man is a plain slacker. The very action confesses that his dominant aim is not service but money alone. When business ideals and ethics become more fully matured, public opinion will deal with a man of this stamp. He will be court-martialed at the drumhead of publicity. He will learn that in peace, no less than in war, the world has no use for the deserter.

The second flagrant case of retirement is that of the man who leaves business at a ripe age but with the intention of doing no more useful work of any kind whatsoever. He resembles the inhabitants of the fabled town. "What do people do in this town?" asked the tourist. "Well, some of them set and think," replied a native, 'and others just set." Any man who looks forward to unalloyed idleness is but dreaming of death.

Cowardly To Retire

There is no paradise for non-producers in this world, and perhaps not in the world to come. Whether rich or poor, the parasite is a pest. Thousands of people imagine it would be a grand and glorious feeling to knock off work and just loaf. But what happens when you get laid up and are compelled to loaf? Once the disability has passed and you are feeling like yourself again, there comes an actual hunger for activity. "Rest?" roared one of our philosophers, "have we not all eternity in which to rest?" Life is activity. Always, we should be busy with good works. A business man does the cowardly thing in quitting a business as soon as he gets enough for himself. He ought to continue in business, but have for his goal the good of the community and his employees instead of the further accumulation of personal profits. When he does so, he begins to get the real enjoyment of making an enduring investment.